


Discarded Blade, Renewed Purpose

by TheLandMaster



Category: Halo (Video Games) & Related Fandoms, Warframe
Genre: Action/Adventure, Crossover, Gen, Horror, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:14:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 66,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27209464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLandMaster/pseuds/TheLandMaster
Summary: A weapon, a warrior, a soldier, a blade. He had spent years in struggle and combat, and wished only to rest. His respite is given, and cut short just as quickly. But his battlefield is now far away, and his enemies from even further beyond. His name is Excalibur, and he was the first Tenno. He will be so again.
Comments: 16
Kudos: 44





	1. Chapter 1

He was tired.

Void, he was so _tired_.

How many years had it been since he had been awoken? How many battles fought? How many lives he’d taken?

How many more had he watched be taken?

How many more would he still watch?

He just wanted to rest…

The warrior paced the bridge of his ship, staring out into the ever eternal blackness of space. Faint motes of light, their source maybe ended eons before they had even stepped forth the first time into the unknown, reminders that for all their struggles, the cosmos cared not. For all the blood they shed, all the pain and suffering they endured… It would mean nothing.

He had watched too many comrades join the ever-growing tomb of this war. Too many.

Calmly, the warrior turned around and walked down the ramp of his ship, the metal clinking softly against his feet. He walked into the chamber where he forged his weapons, his tools… His entire path of life. At the side, slept his companion. He ran a hand over the grey and white metal that was its skin, very much aware of the fact it was only a disguise to the fused flesh and machine that it once had been. It murred at the affection shown, but remained asleep. The warrior wished he could sleep as such. It would have been far easier to him.

His gaze shifted to all his weapons mounted upon the wall. Gun and blade, many in format and application, all equal in their result. He ran a finger down a particular blade, a blackened one with gold inlaid upon it. It had been with him for a very long time. Even before he walked for the first time once more. He took one of the guns from its holding place, a revolver built in black, gold and white. He turned the weapon in his hand, examining its perfect sculpt and craftsmanship, a product of an era bygone and recreated with tools that could now be considered crude in comparison.

Such art should have never been a tool to kill.

He laid the weapon back upon its resting place, letting his touch linger before pulling it back. His mind drifted to the comments his ship’s caretaker would utter, but there were none to be given. There hadn’t been for some time now, and he longed for them. He was damaged, near broken, but he cared. He cared so much.

How he missed him.

He walked further back, going down yet another ramp and around towards the three doors further below deck. To his left, a door covered in growths that outside of the confines of his vessel he always considered an enemy to be wiped out with no mercy, yet was allowed to exist here for their necessity in his survival. To the center, a door leading to a pedestal he had once used. Once.

Now, only an empty shell for his sins and regrets to deposit, forever staining his struggles.

To the right, the path he decided to take. The doors opened easily with a silent slide, revealing the richly-decorated room he called his. Three aquariums held exotic fishes of mesmerizing beauty, their hides and scales reflecting the scant light of the room each in their unique ways. Further back, displays containing sculptures of gold and white, in eternal movement in quick, simplistic but soothing patterns. On his wall, a collection of drawings made by a child he did all possible to rescue, and an assortment of glyphs and maps he had collected in time past, now adorning his last living space.

Right in front of the door, a pedestal. It once held something upon it, now laid empty.

Perhaps for the best.

He walked forward towards the middle of the room, and took one moment to gaze in the mirror at his own self. How long had it been since he had stopped and looked?

Ash-colored skin, arranged in a cloud-like pattern. Leather-like clothes, strapped in what others would think a haphazard way, but had their own grace and purpose. A metal belt hanging from his left hip alongside a long cloth covering the leg on the same side, and one belt of glowing prayer beads on his right. Around his neck, a scarf also of leather and patterned like both hair and a dragon’s tail. His right arm was bare to the world, his left covered in a long, thick sleeve, attached to an armored fur-covered shoulder plate. An intricate red ponytail extending all the way to the middle of his back, and one large strap of leather, starting from the base of the ponytail, wrapping around in the air around his face, a wall separating his eyes and the outside, a green glow between both.

From his hip hung two blades, one two-handed and another one-handed, one atop the other. Upon his back, a two rifles, one for long range and one for closer. Upon his right hip, a bag of throwing blades, and a gold-and-white pistol. Tools that had come to carry and not realize they were there, extensions of his body yet separate of his being.

This shell, hiding his darkened form that performed crimes too terrible before, and too numerous now, was who he was. He had another vessel once, one of flesh and blood, skin and bone. It had been his once.

This was all he was now.

The warrior stepped forth towards the viewing port at the end of the room, and kneeled in front of it. His view of space here was no different from the bridge of his vessel, bar here there was less clutter obstructing the view.

Less things to clutter the endless black that surrounded him.

_WARNING. UNKNOWN VOID FISSURE DETECTED. EMERGENCY MANEUVERS RECOMMENDED._

Yet he was so tired.

_WARNING, CEPHALON UNIT OFFLINE. MANUAL INPUT REQUIRED FOR NAVIGATION._

Peace… That’s what he needed, peace…

_WARNING, PROXIMITY TO VOID FISSURE REACHING CRITICAL PROXIMITY RANGE. IMMEDIATE ACTION NECESSARY._

Tired… So _tired…_

**-O-**

**On July 19 th, year 2552 of the Anno Domini calendar, the OFFICE OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCE** **of the UNITED NATIONS SPACE COMMAND calculated a chance of 87% that the COVENANT, the self-proclaimed religious crusade bent on the annihilation of humankind, would choose the planet of REACH as its next target.**

**REACH, the glorious bastion of humanity’s military might, the birthplace of the SPARTAN-II program, and continuation of the SPARTAN-III program that had been created further away, in the planet ONYX.**

**First contact with COVENANT infiltration forces would happen in July 23 rd 2552, when NOBLE TEAM discovered stealth teams assaulting the Visegràd communications outpost. On July 25th 2552, the UNSC and COVENANT would officially begin the first large-scale engagement of the BATTLE OF REACH.**

**For the next 36 days, brutal conflict erupted throughout the planet, with horrendous casualties incurred by humans, both military and civilian. The UNSC, overwhelmed by the technological superiority of their foe, suffered crushing defeats in several fronts both in space and on the ground.**

**Yet through the actions of NOBLE TEAM, and the sacrifice of all but one of their members, data pertaining to an alien artifact of the mysterious FORERUNNER race that promised to give them a way to end the war after all this time was delivered to the ship PILLAR OF AUTUMN and the last remaining SPARTAN-II in the planet, JOHN-117, the MASTER CHIEF.**

**The events following the FALL OF REACH would culminate in the discovery of INSTALLATION 04, colloquially known as HALO, the biological apocalypse that was THE FLOOD, the GREAT SCHISM between the SANGHEILLI AND JIRALHANNE factions of the COVENANT, the INVASION OF EARTH and discovery of both INSTALLATION 05 and THE ARK and the battle for control of the firing mechanism of the entire HALO ARRAY and the subsequent end of the COVENANT WAR.**

**That is the story that was. The story that became truth, in a different world.**

**But not here.**

**This story received change unto itself, when in July 2 nd of the year 2552, the population of Reach increased, without the knowledge of any of its inhabitants, by one more being.**

**There was no indication this being had arrived on the planet. No mysterious energy signature that was picked up by the most occult of ONI’s equipment, no flash of light in the night that scared farmers and prompted investigation by armed forces, no emotional moment of a civilian discovering the interloper on his fields and caring for it as it recovered.**

**First contact began when NOBLE TEAM, under orders from REACH HQ, were sent to investigate the sudden comm blackout in Visegràd.**

**First contact began when, during the first firefight between UNSC and COVENANT forces on REACH, NOBLE TEAM received support fire from a lone figure, standing off amidst the woods clutching a beautifully constructed sniper rifle.**

**His name was Excalibur Umbra.**

**He was the first and last Tenno of the galaxy.**


	2. Chapter 2

Steady… Ease your breathing… You learned it once, apply it now…

Concentrate. Where is the target?

There. Just below. Good, you’ve sighted it. Now, don’t lose track of it.

Careful now… Aim with patience.

Just like that, grasp the weapon firmly, but not tightly. Leave it with ease of use.

Closer. It is getting closer now. Wait for it… Wait for it to show itself fully.

Now.

With one practiced trust, he threw the fishing spear forward, the sharpened metal puncturing the large fish all the way through. It squirmed once, twice, thrice before going still, the current of the river dragging it ever-so-slowly away. Umbra pulled upon the line attached to the spear and reeled back his catch, carefully lifting it up to eye level. With an approving hum, he threw the fish onto the small pile he had made inside a straw basket. Umbra placed the fishing spear alongside the sack he had set aside with his belongings upon his back and grasped the basket by its handles, before calmly making his way home.

His new home.

He had arrived on this new planet around three weeks before, after his ship had crossed the unknown void fissure. He had expected to die, to finally be given the rest he had so deeply desired. Instead, him and his Orbiter had been launched into some different planet far, _far_ away from the Origin System. His ship had been hidden inside a large cavern behind a waterfall, and he had spent four days scouting out the mountain range he had found himself upon.

They were beautiful. It was what he remembered Earth to be like, during the time of the Orokin, with the towering snow-covered peaks, crashing waterfalls plummeting hundreds of meters down onto the fog-hidden surface, and towering trees reaching for the skies above, all with free wildlife running amongst the greenery. It gave him peace of mind, when he first walked down the crags and just gazed onto the horizon. A view not of the blackness of space, nor of a war-torn battlefield, but a view of peace.

The following days he spent scouting out further beyond, gathering food to feed his partner and simply to have a better layout of the area. That’s when he came across the settlements.

He knew deep down that it was very unlikely he would be alone on this planet, but it was still quite surprising to find humans here. Uncorrupted humans, even more so. Their clothes, their houses, the vehicles they used… Nothing looked familiar to him. Their technology seemed like a strange mix of Corpus and Grineer aesthetic, but leaning more towards the latter. Wheeled vehicles that seemed to run on gas, shockingly enough, and houses made of stone, metal and wood.

He had also spotted what seemed like military installations, built of concrete and steel. Umbra was likewise quite surprised to see the soldiers that these humans fielded: they seemed far simpler in their gear than the Dax soldiers of the Orokin, but a bit more well-prepared than his usual foes. Their weapons were still of gunpowder and metal bullets, not unlike his own, but seemed far weaker. Their vehicles were likewise spartan in their design, but at least seemed functional.

Every clue so far pointed to this humanity being quite different from the one he was used to. More detached than his own modern humanity, more than the Orokin one.

More than him.

Yet he had decided to leave them alone. If they were so different from what he was used to, then so would be their reaction to seeing a Warframe. More so him.

And so, for the next two weeks he had simply fished, hunted, traveled and meditated. It was a quite boring and simple life. But it fit him.

Somewhat.

Yet he could also see something was amiss. The humans seemed fearful of something in their fields, and some even had turned up dead. Umbra had taken to patrolling some of areas around the fields, but without risking exposing himself, his search was limited. Yet he had found traces: footprints that were unnatural, disturbed wild life and even dead animals killed in mysterious ways. He’d have to do something about this. He just prayed that this would not drag him into another conflict.

He arrived back onto his Orbiter’s hiding spot faster than he expected, the Tenno shouldering his way past the cascade of water and onto the cave. He signaled the ship, and a loading ramp extended from its side, allowing him entrance to one of its only two passengers.

The cargo bay was usually reserved to loading all the raw materials he collected throughout his travels, from minerals to plants to relics and so on. But he had replaced that instead with small void containers, sealed deeper into the ship so he would not have a repeat of the incident of when he was first awoken. Now, he used for more… Personal reasons.

A tree, growing right upon the middle. Two streams, running through the room and having their water recycled and pumped back up. Small stones and islets dotting the entire place, some with shrines and lanterns, other with smaller trees bearing fruits or vases holding a myriad of plants. Long ago, Umbra tended to a garden, both him and his son. It was one of the few pastimes he afforded himself between training Dax troops and the never-ending battles.

This was a shadow of what he once owned. But he was used to the shadows, and this one brought him comfort.

He walked slowly, the stream sometimes splashing water against his feet, but he did not mind it. Umbra walked until he was under the large tree, set the basket of fish aside along with the fishing spear, and knelt down upon the grassy floor. Carefully, he slid the sack upon his back to the floor and undid the knot keeping it closed. From inside, he pulled four items: a small incense burner, a few sticks, a bundle of packs filled with herbs… And his pipe.

It was a ritual he had already performed several times the past three weeks, but hadn’t had the time to do before.

He set down the incense and mounted its support, scraping together the igniter against his hand. Sparks flew with every impact, and soon a small flame rose beneath the metal receptacle. He set down the sticks inside it, arranging them upon one corner and then opened a few bags of herbs, carefully setting their content inside before opening one final packet and placing a smaller amount inside his pipe. And as the smoke soon rose from the burner in front of him, Umbra opened the jagged, maw-like mouth of his frame and set the pipe upon it, taking a long drag from the object and then blowing out the resulting smoke.

It had been quite some time, hadn’t it? Since he had last savored this particular herb.

The last time he did this, his son was alive.

Umbra took a few more long drags, the smoke hazing around his body, before setting down the pipe next to the incense burner, the sticks long reduced to nothing but stubs inside the metal vessel. He stood up and stared at the tree for a moment, before laying a hand upon its bark.

 _This is what you wanted, Isaah_ … _You wanted me to have this peace for so long, didn’t you?_

He hoisted the basket up once more and strode to a door further into the back, walking the short distance back onto the main deck of his Orbiter. As soon as he stepped through the doors, he saw the gold-and-white mass dash from its corner to right in front of him.

The Helminth sat down at his feet, its head turned towards the fish upon his hands expectantly. The Tenno took a couple steps forward and then set down the basket upon a corner, and immediately the animal jumped at the opportunity, burying its head upon the pile of flesh as crunching sounds echoed in the room. That done, Umbra turned to his weapons hanging from the walls. He hadn’t needed them for quite some time now, so they all now rested upon their respective places.

Throughout the years, he had amassed such a massive collection of weapons, either looted, recovered or crafted himself from blueprints he had acquired. It had been an arduous task, but it had paid off successfully: He had enough unique blades and guns to arm a small army of Tenno, and still have leftovers. He never really needed them all, but it paid to be prepared.

Like he thought if he should prepare now.

Three weeks. For three weeks, peace had been his companion. Would he throw away what he earned through blind luck, to be thrown into the haze of conflict once more?

He reached up and ran a hand over the lacquered white sheath of the closest sword, removing it from its handle and caressing the handle of the blade. The red sash tied at the bottom waved gently with what little breeze was inside the ship, and his gaze fell upon the inscription made upon the sheath. The one his wife had lovingly and painstakingly worked into the white material.

As he strapped the blade upon his waist, he realized the choice had been made long ago.

As he stepped out of his Orbiter, weapons holstered over his body, he felt something that seemed to have left him so long ago.

He felt purpose.

**-O-**

His choice of weapons had been for the most part, simplistic.

Extravagant, compared to most weapons he had seen in the hands of the humans here. But simplistic.

A Rubico Prime for long-range engagement, currently upon his hands.

A Braton for close-to-mid range, locked onto his back with a magnetic clamp.

His Lato, holstered upon his right hip for emergencies.

Fang Prime, sheathed one on his breast and one on his thigh for ease of access.

And resting on his left hip, a blade that had been a gift to him: Nikana Prime.

He carried less during the battles in the Origin System, to keep it off the hands of the Grineer and Corpus. But here, the enemy was unknown. Better to bring firepower and be prepared, and simply keep his weapons away from the enemy.

At his side, his companion stared off into the distance. Only this time, instead of the metal shell crafted to hide its appearance, its true form was exposed. The creature shook some of the moisture of the air off of its leathery hide, its six pink eyes staring into the horizon.

Umbra had learned, many years ago, that fear was an effective weapon. Several Warframes had been made to harness and inflict terror upon their adversaries.

To these unknown, a Helminth Charger would certainly bring fear.

He gazed upon the mountains one last time. One last moment of peace.

He would win it back once more.

With a leap, he went on the move.

Dodging through and sometimes on the trees, Umbra kept his pace fast and agile. He kept his eyes sharp, always searching for any sign of hostiles or battles. But so far removed from the small settlements as he was, all he found was wildlife. But soon enough, he started seeing human buildings. A grain silo here, a shack for storing farming vehicles there, and the semblance of a worked road snaking through the mountain. Along the ground, his Charger dashed from cover to cover, its body unnaturally close to the ground with legs bent at awkward angles to minimize his profile.

For all its horrors, when the Infestation was at your side, one learned to appreciate its more monstrous capabilities.

The Tenno soon stopped atop a large boulder jutting from the ground and surveyed his surroundings through the scope of his Rubico. Below, the Helminth hid beneath the leaves of some brushes, its hide taking on an approximation of the foliage’s color. A good two-pronged scout strategy: Umbra, with his more extravagant Zato shell, would be the more obvious target, but he had the wider search range. The Charger, meanwhile, would have a more limited field-of-view, but would also be far more difficult to spot, and thus could ambush any trying to sneak through blind spots. They had used these strategies many times in the Eidolon Plains and Orb Valis.

Many paid the price for their mistake.

And from above, he could see much. But what mattered to him was the larger settlement a bit further away.

It was a listening outpost, if he remembered correctly, manned by a small number of troops and surrounded by civilian housings. He had passed it over during one of his trips as somewhat irrelevant. His opinion had changed now, seeing the smoke rising from the destroyed outpost, the wreckage surrounding it, and the military helicopter surveying the surrounding area. He could not see the passengers from the scope, nor anyone else in the wreckage, but he assumed the worst.

It paid to always do so.

Slowly, he shifted his view around the mountain, looking any signs of a militia or the soldiers patrolling the area. What he found was much more.

They were two figures, walking through the trees at brisk but methodical pace. Far taller than any human he had seen, standing almost as tall as the Worm Queen’s personal bodyguards yet with normal proportions. They were covered head to toe in bulky metallic armor, one of them light blue in color and the other jet black. He noticed that the blue colored one was missing her natural right arm, having in its place an almost skeletal metal prothesis. They carried the same type of weapons as the regular soldiers, yet they seemed somewhat… Mechanical in their movements. They scanned their surroundings methodically, pointing their weapons at any corner deemed suspicious or likely to have enemies. They walked in almost lock-step, their movements completely ergonomic and measured.

They seemed just like him.

They were weapons, given human shell.

Umbra kept careful track of them, shifting his rifle ever so slightly to keep them in his sights. Wherever they were going, it would be wise to keep track of them—

Movement. To their right, around 15 meters.

It was a testament to his years of battle that he spotted the faint trembling in the air that denoted a cloaked enemy prowling.

It was just as much a showcase of the skill of these humans soldiers that they spotted the same traces just as quickly, and started firing at the ghostly forms. The bullets ricocheted against a flashing blue barrier, the soldiers rushing back as they fired with utmost precision, and as the sustained fire strained and then broke the barriers, the cloak hiding the figures dropped, and Umbra gazed upon his new enemy for the first time.

It was bipedal, with inverted knees and a hunched back betraying its clearly imposing stature. Sleek black armor covered its entire body, two glowing white eyes peering from the fully-enclosed helmet. Two-toed feet, like hooves, and three-fingered hands clasping a strange U-shaped weapon, or other more rifle-like ones with purple crystals atop it. It was as soon as their cloak dropped that the aliens started firing back, blue spherical bolts and long, thin purple crystals sailing through the air aimed at the soldiers, some striking the trees and cauterizing their barks to ash instantly, some striking the humans themselves and being stopped by (and Umbra was quite surprised by it) yellow energy shields.

Yet for all the humans fought very bravely and brutally, felling two of the aliens in quick order, Umbra realized they were outnumbered three to one, and he could see other cloaked shapes approaching.

Now was the perfect time to help it seemed.

He quickly took aim with his Rubico at the closest alien, his scope dead on his target’s chest… And fired.

Compared to the energy-based Corpus weapons, the Infested organic ordinance, or even some of the more exotic Grineer and Tenno weaponry, the Rubico did one thing only: it fired impact-type heavy slugs at incredible distances. It could stagger heavily-shielded targets, and kill with a lucky shot.

Unmodded, that is.

But he had spent hours upon end modifying his rifle, from the tip of the barrel to the butt of the scope. Other Tenno would jab light-heartedly at his seemingly overeager passion when it came to modding his guns, to his mild embarrassment. He remembered one of them, a Mesa Prime Tenno who had challenged him to a shooting contest in Orb Vallis, with three crates of Oxium in the line. She wielded her Vectis, him a Snipetron.

It took him four months to get back all the Oxium for his pending projects.

When he had been done with the rifle, the Rubico could punch through a Sentient’s armor with one shot, even rip out parts of it with a lucky shot. That was a machine built for extra-solar terraforming with adaptive capabilities.

The alien did not even come close to that level of protection.

The bullet gored through his shields, armor and flesh in an instant, purple blood splashing forward and backwards from the mangled torso. The body itself flew back, weapons flying out of reach as the corpse catapulted back onto the foliage it had emerged from. Its comrades turned their heads in shock and surprise as their comrade fell. The human soldiers also did, but only for the briefest of instants, before continuing their onslaught against the enemy.

Umbra did not relent either.

With every shot, a limb was torn off or another body hit the ground. The aliens tried to hide themselves behind trees or reignite their cloaks, but bark would not stop a bullet that had proven to treat their armor like parchment, and the human soldiers’ continuous fire allowed the Warframe to see the sparkling of the shields whenever an invisible enemy was hit.

In less than two minutes, all aliens were dead.

Umbra lowered his weapon, pulled the spent magazine and slid a new one onto the rifle, before raising it again. He moved the scope to have a look at the human soldiers.

He did not expect them to be staring directly back at him, weapons raised and pointed at his location.

It was a tense moment for both parties, neither willing to take a shot but neither willing to lower their weapons. They were unknown to each other, even if united in their hostility against a common enemy. Yet after a short pause, the blue-colored figure put down her gun and made a quick sign with her mechanical hand.

A wave, followed by her pulling her fingers back towards herself.

 _Hello. Head to our position_.

Slowly, Umbra lowered his sniper, before switching it for his Braton and jumping down the boulder. Behind him, his Helminth stood from where it had hidden, and dashed alongside its master.

This would be an interesting meeting indeed.


	3. Chapter 3

Truth be told, Umbra did not expect them to be so tall until he actually got close.

They stood almost as, if not taller than any Saryn he had met, and their frames were far bulkier than any humans he had met. It could have been the armor, but Umbra made note that the metal could only add so much to someone’s figure. Their visors were polarized, hiding the wearers’ face completely from his sight, and the suits seemed to leave no obvious exposed points to strike. He also picked up on the very soft, very gentle hum of a powerful energy source inside the armor.

It seemed these soldiers were the Tenno for this humanity.

The Warframe approached with his weapon drawn but lowered, a sign that he meant no harm but was prepared. He also took note how they tensed quickly once his Helminth Charger approached, the barrel of their guns raising ever so slightly at the Infested-made animal, who responded in kind by flaring its pincer-like mouth and raising the spikes on its back. He rose one hand placidly, the other reaching out to the animal before calmly stroking its back, the Charger slowly lowering its anger but staring just as suspiciously at the two soldiers.

“Strange dog you have there” said the blue one, the surprisingly young voice of the woman heavily accented. Umbra barely recognized it from the Orokin archives he sometimes browsed, something like “Sulavic” or whatever it had been called. “Is it friendly?”

“Its loyal” replied Umbra, his low, flat voice growling out from sheer disuse. His mouth did not move with the action, the better to hide the more… complex biology of his frame. Let them think him an armorer warrior like them.

It was technically correct.

“That’s not what I asked”

“It is the answer you need”

The woman continued to stare at him, whether with suspicion or with annoyance he could not discern. The one in black armor just kept silent, his rifle still held at an angle that would make pointing it towards either Umbra or the Charger. Finally, she spoke up.

“Alright then, change of question: who are you aligned with?”

He remained silent for a moment, gazing off to the side in no particular direction, before returning the gaze. “I follow myself”

“Also not a good answer” she replied, and this time there was more than a hint of steel behind her voice. And considering the way her and her partner’s rifle rose ever so slightly towards him, they wanted full truths.

But it was not time for them.

“I am not of this planet. Not of your kind, not of your war. But I am of your home. Or at least, of what humanity calls home. And I made my oaths to fight against that which threatens men and their peace in the stars” he droned out, his Braton still lowered upon his hands. “I know not your enemy, who they are or what drives them. But you fight them, so so will I. Is that not enough?”.

He didn’t know if his words were heeded by them soldiers, but he hoped so. These aliens, whoever they were, had come to this world, and were threatening its inhabitants. What other reason they needed to accept his help? Yet before they could continue, a soft ping rang from the blue soldier’s wrist computer. She gazed down at the equipment, back to her partner, then walked a few steps away from the group. Umbra could not really make out what she spoke at whoever was on the line fully, but he did grasp a few disjointed words such as “Reach”, “Covenant”, “Noble” and “Commander”. Whoever she was speaking to, it was most likely her commanding officer. And “Covenant” possibly referred to the aliens they had killed.

Umbra took a few moments to gaze at one of the more intact corpses near them, not willing to test their trust by moving from where he stood. Up-close and without the hectic pace of battle, he could more clearly stare at his newest enemy.

Their armor was very glossy, and he could see the faint trace of photo-receptive panels upon it, most likely to work in tandem with their cloaking devices. Their skin, rough like scales and barely noticeable beneath all the protective layers, but which hinted at the strength of the aliens and made him realize that these were less soldiers and more warriors. He also noticed what seemed to be small pieces of metal shaped like handles upon their hips, easy to access and store back. But what were they? Questions for later, when he had the time and trust.

Not a moment sooner, the woman returned to her starting position, her stance somewhat more relaxed, but still trained upon him.

“My team leader knows about you now. He wants to see you face to face… Or as close as you can to it” she said curtly. “He also said to ask you politely to either leave the area or help shoot the Covenant around us. And please choose fast, we have to keep moving”.

Umbra gazed at her from behind the leather visor hung over his “face”, the prayer beads shaking softly with the slight breeze around them. Sometimes he forgot about his changed shell until he gazed upon a mirror or something reminded him of it. The way they stared at his cloud-patterned skin and his more… Traditional and ancient looking clothes only served to drive the point home to him: they thought him some wandering vagabond of an unknown alien race, or a lunatic of some kind.

Neither of which were inherently wrong.

Yet he already knew the answer to her question.

She had engraved it upon his Nikana’s sheath a long time ago.

“My oath is clear, as is the path it takes me to. My gun and blade will join yours against your enemy”. He took one step forward, holding his Braton upon one hand and from his side, the other clasping around his sword’s hilt. “I am Excalibur Umbra. My fury is yours to guide. This is Zaktur, my companion in battle” he added, motioning to the Helminth Charger beside him. The two soldiers gazed at one another, before returning the more poetic greeting with short nods.

“Call me Noble Two” said the blue armored one.

“Six” was the even shorter reply from the one clad in black. Black as Umbra’s own skin.

As his true form.

Maybe they were quite alike indeed.

And with their greetings done in their own ways, the quarter dashed out into the woods, seeking prey and war.

**-O-**

How it felt good to cut loose with his true speed and agility around allies. Many times, Warframes would find themselves accompanied by soldiers or others who did not possess the same skills and abilities as themselves, leading to the Tenno intentionally holding themselves back so as to allow the less gifted humans or related to keep up, whether it be syndicate troops, rescued prisoners or even civilians in need of evacuation.

Not here. Not now.

These soldiers were above normal humans. Not Tenno, but so very close.

Their speed was amazing, their movements ergonomic. No wasted energy or unnecessary flourish, always conserving for possible battles. They knew the limitation that was fatigue to their bodies, even if it seemed to be a far-away problem to their bodies. Had they been augmented? Possibly. Biological betterment was one way to make better soldiers. The Dax had been proof of that.

He hadn’t had that choice. The other Tenno also didn’t. But the Void didn’t care. It made them better all the same.

In some ways.

This time, Umbra made the Charger follow not in the front for scouting, but instead between both parties. He didn’t trust his new allies to not fire upon the animal, and even with its regenerative properties or being able to replenish lost body mass through feeding, he’d rather not push his luck. Nor reveal the more esoteric abilities of the hybrid.

It wasn’t long before the sound of gunfire started echoing through the air, which only made the group sprint faster towards it. Umbra readied his Braton, finger already ghosting atop the trigger, when they finally broke foliage and found themselves in an on-going battle.

He quickly took note of the battleground and the two sides fighting upon it: it was a large open area, dotted with rocks and boulders and a river coursing right through the middle, with a bridge connecting it to the other side. On one side, a small shack and barn where scant human soldiers took cover behind the wreck of vehicles or whatever rocks were close, aided by two armored soldiers not unlike his companion. One was dark-blue, wielding a semi-automatic rifle and taking measured shots to his targets. The other was a mountain of a man (he imagined, the thick armor hid his body well), firing off a gun the size of an Imperator Archgun at the aliens. Speaking of said aliens…

They were upon the other side, one with a mountain rising off into the sky, upon which was a far more solidly-built concrete house, also surrounded by boulders. And all around it, the aliens moved and weaved through cover, a purple U-shaped dropship offloading more troops before leaving. Here, the aliens were far more varied.

He saw small, stubby ones walking around awkwardly in their stubby limbs, large metal humps upon their back as they fired green bolts of energy and pink crystalized ammo at the human combatants. He saw lithe, bird-like ones hiding behind plasma shields and wielding similar weapons to the short ones, while others wearing more concealing armor hoped and weaved with natural grace, taking potshots with the same type of rifle he had seen in the hands of the black-armored aliens he had fought previously. And speaking of said previous battle…

The last aliens were the same as the first species he encountered, but their armor was radically different. It was pure-white with red symbols upon it, covering even more of the body than the first iteration he encountered. Upon their hands was a longer version of the purple pronged weapon he encountered before, with a cylinder upon the middle. One of them turned to face the oncoming group and yelled out apparent commands in its native language as the troops turned to face them all.

Umbra gave a single hand-sign to his Charger, and they began.

He fired his Braton in short bursts, always aiming for the head or limbs. Each bullet splattered bone and flesh, and the modded flame ammunition cauterized any wounds. A few rounds lodged themselves onto the humps of the short aliens, and turned out to be filled with what Umbra pleasantly discovered to be methane when it reacted rather… Violently with the bullets enhanced by the Thermite Rounds mod, blasting apart flesh all around.

The human soldiers worked just as efficiently, firing off quick controlled bursts from their rifles and while their impact was not as esoteric as the Warframe’s own, they did their job well, piercing metal and slamming against the plasma shields of the bird-like aliens, shifting them slowly from blue to red and even breaking apart some of them to expose their far more vulnerable wielders. Their fire was joined by their fellow squadmates and surviving troopers, the air growing thick with flying bullets and energy projectors as the Covenant found themselves massed by an assault from two sides.

But Umbra had another target in mind. The alien leader.

His path was cleared by the Helminth.

The animal let out a shrieking roar, mouth pincers flaring as several flesh tendrils shot from its body and buried themselves upon the exposed enemies. The aliens screamed and flailed in panic and pain, yet the barbs upon the tips dug even further into the perforated flesh before reeling the bodies in. Once its prey was finally close, the animal jerked back its barbed tentacles, digging back through the flesh and tearing off large chunks along with it, before leaping onto and tearing off limbs with its claws and pincer. Plasma fire arced aimed at the Charger, but the animal’s limbs twisted and turned at impossible angles to dodge what it could. What it couldn’t, it let its Infested shell take the brunt of.

The Charger had known pain worse than this. By hands of Grineer, Corpus, Infested and Sentient, they knew the ways to truly make the mutated animal suffer. These aliens did not. They thought it a simple beast. It proved them wrong with every kill, every wound, and every movement.

But its goal was not to win. Merely to stall. These aliens, it realized, were cannon fodder.

The true targets were the white ones.

The Nikana was not needed here. Umbra had no need to showcase how deadly his blade was when in his hands.

The Fangs would suffice.

The tall aliens fired upon him, blue bolts of energy streaking all around his form as the Warframe dodged and weaved around the enemy fire. What few bolts struck him were stopped by the shimmering blue shield surrounding his body. Umbra snapped a few shots, the bullets impacting the aliens’ own shield, blue and white flashing with every hit.

But as it turns out, the shields of a warrior that were forged to fight armies by itself and reinforced by tools of a race that forged life thrice was far stronger than those mass-produced by a religious army, even if for their elite forces. And when the Ultras’ shields fell, Umbra holstered his rifle and unsheathed his twin daggers.

The Warframe rushed the closest alien, arms spread out and blades glinting against the sun. The alien threw its arm back, an energy dagger springing to life upon the forearm before thrusting it forward. Umbra reacted quickly, bringing one of his blades up to clash with the immaterial weapon. Sparks of breached plasma flew off as the unique metal upon the dagger’s blade dug into and finally slashed away at the small energy blade, breaking the weapon’s stability. Yet Umbra pushed forward, continuing the motion of his attack and slashing across the alien’s armor, opening a gash on the white plating where blue blood started leaking from. His other arm shot forward instead, sliding between the protective plating on the alien’s waist, and burying itself up to the handle on its flesh. A roar echoed out from the enclosed helmet, the warrior’s gaze shifting down to glare at the unknown enemy before bellowing something in its native language. It tried to move its other arm to attack, but Excalibur was faster. Letting go of the Fang still stuck on the alien’s hip, Umbra took hold of the alien’s hand and squeezed, shattering the fingers and forcing bone to break the scaled skin. Another twist and a mighty pull tore off the entire forearm, splashing even more purple blood onto the ground, before bringing the Fang still in his hands onto the eye slit of the helmet, plunging the blade deep into it and washing even more blood onto his arms.

The second alien wasted no time bringing its own weapon up, spooling up its plasma repeater and belching out a torrent of bolts at the Warframe, seemingly uncaring of its fellow warrior, or just thinking him beyond saving. Umbra instead shifted its own body and hoisted the Elite up into the air. He used the alien’s body as an impromptu shield, letting the plasma bolts strike the alien until he heard the telltale whine of a weapon overheating. By the time the plasma stopped shooting, the alien in his grasp had stopped moving, limbs hanging lifelessly in the air and blood pooling down from its stab wounds. Umbra tossed the charred body forward, yanking his daggers from it before delivering a powerful kick to its midsection. The corpse catapulted through the air and straight at the remaining white alien, yet without hesitation, the alien drew a handle not unlike the one he had seen before in the dead aliens of the ambush. From it, a bright blue blade sprung to life, and the alien cut the corpse in two with a single slash, both halves falling to the floor with a thud.

Umbra looked at the crouched figure readying itself to fight him.

A sword. How long had it been?

Fate seemed keen on keeping him waiting however, for the moment the alien readied himself to lunge forward, a hail of bullets tore through its body, blasting flesh, blood and even bone onto the ground. The Warframe looked to the left and caught sight of the bigger armored soldier standing atop the body of one of the bird-like aliens, his massive machinegun whining down from the carnage it wrought onto its last target. The giant of a soldier stared down the Warframe, unyielding visor against hiding cloth, before he lowered his gun and spoke.

“Didn’t know anyone was crazy enough to fight like that anymore” he said in a deep, booming voice, thick with accent, before turning towards the gathered humans. Excalibur saw the results of the fight around him, both alien and human.

Bodies of the shorter aliens laid where they fell, filled with bullet holes and blood. Their weapons laid upon the floor, sometimes by themselves, sometimes with the limbs that held them before or still did. Some even had no heads anymore, just a mush of flesh dripping gore onto the ground. The bird aliens’ fared no better, their tongues lolled out with whichever ones still had their craniums. He took note of the Charger moving from body to body, feeding on the loose limbs and corpses as the consumed biomass replaced what injuries it had taken.

The humans fared better. Somewhat. Most were alive. Injured, but alive. They nursed burns and limp limbs as the medic moved from one to the other, his own injuries ignored in favor of others. But the dead were amongst them still. Some were more dignified with their fall, a few shots and nothing more. One had his arms blown off, laying not too far from their owner, still grasping the rifle he fought with. The last one was barely human anymore, a mass of flesh with a few shards of the pink crystals still sticking out from it.

Umbra’s grip upon his Fangs tightened, the handles’ metal cold against his skin and the warm blood still upon him.

Again… Once more, he would be surrounded by death.

But he’d make sure to end it this time. He’d fight this enemy.

They were like the Grineer. Like the Corpus, Infested, Sentient, Eidolons…

They could die.

He could kill them.

He would.

His thoughts were interrupted when the armored soldiers gathered around him. They all were unique, each with their own armor and color. They gazed at him with a level of curiosity, at his weapons and appearance. At the way he fought, and his abilities.

He had yet to show everything, of course.

“I take it you’re the one Noble Two told me about” said the one in dark blue armor, his rifle resting against his chest just as the others held theirs before, and held them now.

“Yes” croaked out Umbra, swinging the blood from his blades off before re-sheathing them. “And you’d be her commanding officer?”

“Noble One” he replied quickly. “You’ve met Two and Six already. This is Noble Five, Three and Four are ahead of us” he added, pointing to the larger soldier hoisting a HMG, who gave a quick nod towards him. Just as they introduced themselves haphazardly, the sound of whirring blades and engines filled the air, just in time for two helicopters to lower themselves onto what little empty space there was. The few passengers it carried, more human soldiers like the ones supporting the armored titans standing in front of him, jumped off their harnesses and hurried to the injured troopers, quickly taking to treat them.

“Two told me you seem willing to help, and so far you’ve proven it” spoke the blue armored soldier from over the sound as he climbed onto the helicopter, before turning to face Umbra. “The question now is if you’re going to keep following us to help”.

Umbra looked at the vehicle as the soldiers boarded it and the engines spun faster into life, slowly rising once more onto the sky. The Warframe looked down at the ground as the Helminth approached, fully healed and having grown from feasting on the corpses. He kneeled and ran one clawed hand over the animal’s head, hearing the alien purr it emitted, before giving two short pats upon to its side. With that quick gesture, the Charger dashed off onto the mountains.

And as the Falcon rose and Carter-A259 told the pilot to take them to the relay station, an impact shook the Falcon’s hull to the sides, and a quick glance confirmed the cause.

“Let us proceed” said Umbra, grasping the security railing of the helicopter and staring into Noble Team leader’s visor and into his eyes.

And with this, Noble Team headed to Visegrád station.

The Covenant awaited.


	4. Chapter 4

Ammo… two thirds still left on the Braton. Rubico had plenty of rounds left.

Blades were in prime condition, no damage whatsoever.

Shields were still stable, no alterations, health reserves maximum, energy levels stable at sixty percent…

It was an old ritual of his, to check his gear at every respite on his missions. One such respite being here, aboard the helicopter and surrounded by soldiers of an unknown humanity to him, an unknown to them.

It was strangely comforting.

Tenno were seem with an air of reverence and mystery in the Origin system. Few knew of their true roots. Fewer knew of his. But not here. Here, they saw him as an oddity, but nothing more. Intrigue, rather than awe. It was refreshing, in a way.

But now was not the time. They had a mission to fulfill.

From what Noble One had been willing to share, the Covenant as the myriad of aliens were called had invaded this planet, Reach. They were bent on the annihilation of humanity, claiming it to be the "will of the gods" and had erased entire colonies of all life in their crusade. Reach was now their next target, but the UNSC would not let them have the planet.

Umbra took the information in stride. He had been used to fighting annihilation as a common enemy, facing one guided by seeming religious fervor was significantly easier.

They died easier than the Sentients too.

Yet he was curious. Where had this worship of gods demanding the end of mankind come from? It could not have been born out of a circumstance, nor of some random interpretation of a text. This went deeper, and he had to find out how much.

But later. Now, he had to worry about protecting a planet from an invasion they didn't know if they could push back. Umbra gazed down at the paved road that led up the mountain, seeing the flaming vehicles strew upon it and bodies laying upon them. It seemed the Covenant had the same type of subtlety as the Tenno did: survivors couldn't raise the alarm if there were no survivors. Carefully, Umbra took his Rubico from his back and peered through its scope, just as the outpost came into view. It was a simplistic military building, as he expected now of this UNSC. A concrete and steel bunker, built onto the side of the mountain and surrounded by fences, with a singular road leading onto the patio right before the bunker.

Now, said patio was littered with bodies. Alien bodies.

The Covenant did not seem to try things in half-measures, it seemed.

Umbra looked down at the grounds, and they seemed clear enough. He took one step back inside the helicopter, then jumped out. With unmatched grace, he backflipped through the air and landed upon the concrete ground, knees bending to absorb the impact before the Warframe stood up.

Was the backflip necessary? Not likely, no. But Tenno had their own flair for the dramatic.

And as the Falcon lowered into a more open part of the entrance, unminding of the spread out bodies, Umbra took note of the last two armored soldiers that apparently comprised Noble Team. One had green armor and was perched way above in the roof of the tallest building, his sniper rifle at the ready as he peered down at Umbra through its scope. The other had black and red armor, with a skull-painted helmet and shotgun menacingly aimed at him. Both seemed at least knowing enough to not shoot the strange figure that had jumped out of the helicopter belonging to their own faction, but Umbra could tell the latter one seemed eager to fight.

Umbra kept his rifle lowered and simply looked back at the Falcon, watching the vehicle rise up into the air once more as the four other armored soldiers walked towards him, weapons resting upon their arms and aimed down.

"Noble Three, Noble Four" said Carter, giving a nod to both. The green soldier waved once, then stood up and began jumping down the buildings back to the ground.

"Commander" replied the raspy voice inside the skull-painted helmet, before he nudged his shotgun towards Excalibur. "Who's the circus act?"

"His name's Umbra, he'll be assisting us on this op for now"

"On who's directive?"

"Mine". The skull-faced soldier turned to face Umbra once more, his gaze shifting slightly up and down, before giving an indifferent shrug. "Noble Three, give me a sit-rep". The green soldier jumped down from the last rooftop, before joining his team.

"We got here not a long time ago, commander, and the Covenant immediately started gunning for us. Me and Noble Four took defensive positions and pushed back the troops that were around the station" he said calmly, gesturing to the dead aliens surrounding them. "These are all of them who attacked, but I don't think this is over". As if on cue, Noble One's radio piped to life.

" _Noble One, this is Stork One. Be advised, you have Covenant incoming… And make that a lot of them. ETA two minutes"_

"Copy that Stork One, avoid conflict and leave it to us" replied the commander. "Alright Noble, we got ourselves incoming. Noble Two, get working on that door, we need to close up and secure this outpost"

"On it, Noble One" she replied before running inside, already a tac-pad in hand as she knelt down in front of the door's control panel.

"Everybody else, hunker down and get ready". With affirmative nods, the other four members took up positions around the courtyard, already leaning from cover to check firing zones. Noble One turned to Umbra, who simply walked out into the open and looked up at the sky, before reaching onto the inside of one of leather belts around his waist, drawing from it a curious metal handle with three blue cylinders attached from it.

Umbra hated the Orokin for many things. Creating void pouches to hold ammo and gear was not one of them. There were better reasons.

He grasped the stim deployer and placed it upon his arm, then pressed down on the trigger. A quick prick indicated the needle punching through the Warframe's skin, the blue liquids emptying onto his body. Almost immediately, he felt the chemicals wash into his twisted, Technocyte muscles, reinforcing and hardening them beneath, a layer of metal bubbling through the armor and coating his body.

Agility was not needed in a siege. Calcifin was his best choice.

And with his Braton and Lato drawn, Excalibur watched the U-shaped transports of the Covenant descend from the sky, overhung cannons firing purple bolts onto the spread-out fighters.

In that moment… Umbra's mind drifted.

He felt his arms moving, his fingers pressing down on the trigger of his weapons, enemy weapon fire splashing against his shields and tearing away pieces of the Calcifin-forged armor, when blood splashed against his body when enemies foolishly rushed him, only to be cut down by gunfire from him or the Spartans fighting around him.

But he did not command them to do so.

Moments both compressed into fleeting flashes and stretched into infinitely long years. Umbra did not see the combat around him, did not partake in it. He merely felt it.

It tugged at what little humanity remained inside his heart. The man he once was.

It tugged at the monstrosity he had become. The weapon he was now.

The monstrosity was stronger.

The rush grew stronger. He felt himself fire against enemies more shots than needed, close the distance just a few steps more than was necessary, take aim just one or two seconds faster than he should. His posture hunched, his grasp on his weapon became looser, his movements became more erratic.

Thrill of battle. Something he had tried to excise from his own body.

The regret of it still followed him.

It was in this haze of violence that he soon found himself surrounded by enemies, all pouring weapon fire upon him. His shields were powerful, but not unbreakable. His instincts kicked in, and he felt the primal rage so carefully sealed inside him surge outwards. The energy bubbled and toiled, the streams of power drawn from the void surging through his body even as some of the aliens realized the threat and readied themselves to run.

Their decision came too late. Umbra curled his body inwards…

And howled.

Sound and energy melded together, a wall of terror blasting forth and around him. It carried with it his rage, fury and sorrow. The aliens reared back or fell to the floor, their senses overwhelmed and bodies locked up in terror.

So were the Spartans.

But he did not notice that. Not as he dashed forward and continued opening fire against the dazed enemies, tearing and burning their flesh with bullets.

Those too close, he did the same with his hands. Limbs torn, holes punched through armor and hide, necks broken. How he had forgotten that his body was such an effective weapon?

_**Good to know you didn't forget** _

He stopped, just as he pulled his clawed hand from the insides of another taller alien. Elites had they been called?

The haze upon his mind ebbed away, thoughts processes returning just in time for a large armored hand to grasp his arm and wrench him back. Umbra looked back, the last remnants of his fury almost forcing him to attack whoever touched him…

It was Noble Six.

The black armored warrior held his gaze upon Umbra's, visor against cloth, before the human let go and made a quick hand movement to be followed. The Warframe looked back and saw all the other members of Noble Team huddled near the almost fully closed metal door, still firing against the recovering aliens, though he did not their aim had become just the tinniest bit sluggish. Umbra rushed to their side just as the steel door slid close with a resounding clang of metal against metal. Darkness enveloped their surroundings, though it had no effect in Umbra's sight, his own Tenno sight more than capable of switching to dark vision on a whim.

It seemed to not hamper the Spartans either, considering the way they kept their visors and weapons leveled equally towards him, Noble Four in particular keeping his shotgun aimed at his head rather than chest like the others.

"Good show you made back there" growled the skull-faced soldier. "A heads-up would have been nice". Umbra looked towards him, then to the others, his gaze finally settling upon Noble Six, the one that had braved the madness to reach him.

"… I… Apologize" came his low, hoarse reply. "I… Fell upon old habits of mine. It has been some time since I've been in combat. It will not repeat itself". The Spartans turned their heads minutely to one another, before Noble One gave a quick nod, and the weapons came down.

"I don't know what you did back there, but a heads-up would be appreciated" he said curtly. His voice was calm, but Umbra could hear the dangerous undertone of it. A warning. "Remember to mention that when you debrief our commanding officer".

"Of course".

"Three and Four, post here. If we flush any hostiles, they're yours. Move out, Noble". And with that, the soldiers turned and walked into the outpost, weapons still raised and at the ready. Umbra saw Two and Six's gazes linger further upon him, yet they soon broke it as well and joined their teammates in entering, with the green and skull-faced soldiers taking up positions to secure the entrance. The Warframe looked down upon his hand, seeing the blood still coating it, and slowly closed it into a fist.

_When you fight… Please remember your vows to me…_

_**You didn't forget them, did you? It'd be such a shame** _

He clenched his fist harder when the two voices rung in his head. Not now.

Focus. Now was not the time to reminiscence. There is a mission to fulfill.

The group did not travel long into the outpost, just one corridor in complete darkness. Their weapons were held at the ready, fingers ghosting the triggers and eyes keen for even the slightest movement at the corner of their vision. The fact the Covenant were outside only made them even more guarded.

Yet at the first turn they came across, right at the next room was another surprise: a dead body.

Male, Caucasian, seemingly in his 50s-60s, wearing civilian garbs and face down on a pool of his own blood. No visible injuries.

Noble quickly spread out across the room, checking all possible corners. Six knelt down by the body to check it, Two moved towards the main computer right at the front, One walked towards an injured soldier laying against a wall, giving him some quick reassuring words, while Five paced across the room carefully.

Umbra gazed at the room, looking for signs of struggle, yet there seemed to be little bar the dead body upon the ground. Had the fighting happened somewhere else? Or perhaps…

"Found something" called out Six, holding up a small metallic chip on his fingers.

"I'll take that, Six" called out Two, swiping said chip from the black soldier's hand and staring intently at it. "Not your domain"

"I got a live one over here!" cried out Five from one of the corners, dragging out a young woman that fought with everything she had, hitting her fists uselessly against the soldier's metal armor and shouting in her own native language. "Come on, out you come…" he said dully, one hand wrapped fully around her entire upper arm even as she apparently swore and cursed at him. "It's alright, we're not gonna hurt you".

Yet the girl seemed to care nothing of his reassuring words, blunt as they were. She merely kept struggling further. Umbra watched the civilian girl and thought of all the times he and other Tenno had come across survivors of the Grineer or Infested. Their shock was always evident, the way they looked at the inhuman saviors and the carnage they carved to do so. Noble One looked at the resisting girl and took a step towards her and his squadmate.

"Five…"

"I got her" he grunted, dropping his machinegun and grasping her with both hands. "Keep still, and I'll release you". The girl stilled, looking at the massive soldier, and muttered a few words, very low.

"Még... Itt vannak"

Five tensed, his whole body going stiff, as the words spoken by her hit his ears like a freight train. The others didn't speak Tengeri, but he did. And what she said kicked in all the possible enhancements in his body.

Még itt vannak.

_They are still here_

Spartan Time.

Drugs and chemicals pumped into his body madly, slowing the world to a crawl and elevating his senses to their absolute peak. Jorge's eyes shifted inside the helmet and took note of everything that happened at once.

A maroon form jumped from the rafters, swinging a bright blue blade aimed at his head.

An intricate silver blade shot from below, blocking the downward slash.

Field Marshal and Umbra pushed their swords against one another, before the Warframe jumped and gut-kicked the Elite away, spinning in the air and pushing Noble Five and the girl away, just as two Zealots jumped down as well, their own swords already ignited and paired with Plasma Rifles. The Warframe landed once more, sword held tightly upon his right hand and his Lato held on the left. He gave a quick glance back to the Spartans and the girl, before turning to the aliens

"Stand back"

The three aliens jumped. So did he.

His Dax-turned-Tenno mind sped through all the information he needed, his body already moving with the information his senses had taken in.

The one up-front, with the more intricate armor, he marked mentally as Head.

The other two, with the simpler designs, he deigned as Right Blade and Left Blade.

Head once more slashed away at him, plasma sword poised to strike his torso, but Umbra quickly stopped it with Nikana Prime's blade, sparks flying as the plasma came in contact with the Oxium blade. Left Blade and Right Blade charged in, thrusting their pronged weapons to pierce the now still Warframe when Umbra raised his Lato and fired three times, staggering Left and halting its assault temporarily in time for him to push back Head's sword and parry Right's attack.

Two shots to the head staggered Right, shields flaring but holding, enough that the Elite barely blocked the slash aimed at his neck, the Nikana's edge dangerously close to his skin. Head swung his plasma rifle up and fired, the blue bolts washing into and around Umbra's shield, yet the stream was quickly cut when the Warframe aimed a knee strike up, ripping the weapon from the alien's grasp and tossing it aside. He aimed his Lato at the leader, but pulled his arm back when Left swung his plasma blade up, instead shooting at the attempted attacker once.

Right lashed out once more, and this time his blade connected, flaring against Umbra's shield and splashing the plasma across his back. Umbra stumbled forward but quickly regained his posture, lashing out back with a high kick and nailing the Elite upon its "chin", rearing the alien's head back and staggering it. Head thrusted forward, just as the Warframe spun and swung his Nikana forward, the katana sliding between the plasma sword's blades. Umbra twisted his wrist and swung up, the metal blade bracing against the plasma weapon and wrenching it from the grasp of the alien. With the blade now held high, Umbra quickly spun it in his grasp and slashed down, the Elite raising his plasma rifle to try and defend himself, only to have his weapon sliced cleanly in half by the ancient Orokin blade, his fingers only being saved by the millisecond the blade was halted when hitting the rifle.

Left Blade tossed aside his plasma rifle and drew a second sword, rushing the Warframe as his commanding officer took a step back, just as Right Blade raised its own gun and fired yet another hail of plasma bullet. Using the Nikana's long blade, Umbra blocked both swords as Left cross-slashed at him, the Elite snarling as it pushed forward with all its might. The plasma bolts washed over Umbra, lowering his shields even further and under the halfway mark.

Gripping the hilt of his sword harder, the Tenno felt the primal energy of the void flow onto his blade, a blue and white light shining from it. Umbra pushed forward, his own blade slowly but surely digging into the contained plasma and letting sparks of blue fly free. With one final burst of strength, the Nikana parted through all four blades, burying itself on the Elite's shoulder, then through it as Umbra put all his strength onto the slash. The alien roared in pain, his appendage falling onto the metal floor and splashing blue-and-purple blood all around as it dropped the sword still in its grasp and placed its hand upon the gushing wound. With the momentum of his attack, Umbra spun, aiming his slash at Right Blade's weapons, yet by the time he turned the Elite had jumped back, the tip of the channeled blade only lightly nicking the tip of the plasma rifles.

It was at this moment that Head recovered from its dazed state and turned its glare once more at the Warframe, before it shifted to the injured Zealot and the under-pressure companion. The Field Marshal quickly acted, drawing both of its energy daggers and rushing at Umbra with all its strength. It swung fast and wildly, enough that Umbra easily dodged without using its blade for protection. Yet as it swung its arm for a futile upward thrust, the Tenno saw its true goal.

Namely, he caught sight of the bright, glowing blue ball the Elite had let go of as its arm thrust up, before the three aliens jumped back. Umbra crossed his arms and blade in front of his body, just in time to add one more layer of protection before the small sphere detonated. Ultra-heated plasma expanded and washed over its surroundings, blue flames licking at the walls, floor and ceiling and burning scorch marks onto them. The impact and heat slammed into Umbra like an Infested Juggernaut, tossing him back and finally dropping his shields to the danger zone, the low yet high-pitched alarm of his frame warning of their critical condition. Umbra shook his head and turned once more to face his opponents, when he heard Noble One cry "Bad guy coming out!" as Right Blade rushed past the gathered fighters amidst the confusion, and the sight of the human soldier as he was hoisted from the ground by the Field Marshal with an energy dagger pointed at his head, with Left Blade pointing a plasma rifle with its remaining arm at the Warframe and the Spartans as the armored humans moved forward, guns raised and poised to strike. Behind them, the civilian girl screamed in terror, but at least seemed unharmed thankfully. The aliens slowly backed through the door, the soldier upon their grasp flailing and trying to grasp at the door, before his still screaming form was dragged away from view.

" _That tango blew past me. Permission to pursue?_ "

"Negative, Four, stay on the entrance. Two, handle the girl. Five and Six, clear the hole" ordered Noble One, and the squad sprung to action, with Nobles Five and Six rushing through the door the Elites had just left through, the larger soldier slamming the metal door shut behind them. Umbra turned his gaze from the door to the sliced off arm of the alien upon the floor, the blood covered appendage laying completely still—

_He was running, for how long he did not know. The gunfire and shouting of the Dax around mixed with the brutal and devastating weapons the Sentients brought to bear. Gold and white bodies laid upon the black ground, their weapons not far from where they fell, their faces obscured by the mono-eyed helmets, yet the blood that slathered the floor beneath them was red all the same. Sentient body parts littered the ground, broken shards and shattered cores strewn about. And amidst these, empty husks._

_Warframes. Tennos._

_Shells like his. Yet not._

_Umbra dashed, Skiajati upon his hands. His blood-stained hands._

_Stained with red blood._

_He had run. For how long he did not know._

_But he could not run from them. From Isaah._

_From Ballas._

_He turned to look behind him, yet he saw nothing. He looked forward, and saw a doorway. Through it, he saw a bed, with two figures sitting next to it and laying upon it—_

A hand fell upon his shoulder, driving Umbra from his memories. He turned and was met with Noble One's visor staring upon his cloth one. The blue armored soldier held the gaze, before giving the Tenno a small pat.

"Good work there, Umbra" said the commander, before turning back and towards the back of the room, his rifle at the ready. To the side, Noble Two was knelt beside the still-shaking young woman, holding her arm and trying to coach her off the panic. Umbra stared down at his hand still gripping Nikana Prime. Blue blood coated its blade, but with a quick swing it fell off the metal, leaving the sword pristine once more, Umbra sliding the sword onto its lacquered sheath once more.

This blade had been gifted to him long ago. Looking back, he realized what she meant when she gave him this sword. What she meant with the engravings upon it, those sinuous patterns so delicately drawn to remain forever more.

Yes… A fitting sword for him. Keen, sharp, efficient… One that could be wiped of its sins.

He would live up to it.


	5. Chapter 5

Xevu 'Luhomee. Sedo 'Trasamee. Rter 'Razamee.

They were not brothers by blood. All came from families so far apart their kin had never encountered face to face.

Yet the sacred texts of the Covenant had brought them together, and the holy crusade of the San'Shyuum strengthened their bond until they were kin in all but name. The three together had become scourges to humanity, heroes to the Sangheili and epitomes of the ordained right of the Covenant to the legacy of the Forerunners.

The three rose through the ranks meteorically, all the way from lowly Minors to the perilous career of Rangers, until finally they were graced with the armor and colors of the Zealots. Xevu climbed even further, and became instead one above them, a Field Marshal.

It was then that they received their sacred missions from the High Prophets themselves: to scour the stars, no matter how inhospitable the world, and discover artifacts of their hallowed precursors. Their close-knit teamwork ensured their success time and time again, even into human-controlled territory. The Gauntlet of the Prophets, they were called.

But today… Today, as Xevu and Rter held Sedo's near-unconscious body as they ran into the wilderness to meet up with their evacuation ship, the Gauntlet had been bested. Not by humans, nor even by their Imps or Demons, the dreaded Spartans whispered amongst the high echelon in High Charity.

But something else.

 _Inhuman_.

A groan from their injured brother made the two Elites halt their run, setting down the one-armed Zealot as once more, Xevu pulled his medical kit from his waist and took to working on the injury. The blade, whatever it had been, at least made a mercifully clean cut. _Too_ clean. It had seemingly ghosted through the Zealot-class armor as if he wore nothing at all.

Humans had long abandoned the craft of swords, that much he knew. Whatever attacked them did not. And it was masterful with the blade.

[What _was_ that thing, brother?] asked Rter, exhaustion seeping into his words as the Sangheili gasped for breath. He scanned the surroundings, plasma rifles at the ready, yet just as before none came. Xevu looked up briefly at his brother, before letting out a ragged sigh and continuing to tend to Sedo's injury.

[I know not, brother. But whatever it was, it knows the sword well. I've never dueled something that fought so fiercely]

[Could it be a new breed of Demon?]

[N-No…]

Both Elites looked at their injured brother as he spat out a reply, his eyes half-closed but still filled with a fire. Rage or determination? Not that it mattered.

[That… That was no Demon… When I crossed blades with it… There was a power behind, brothers…]

[Rest, brother Sedo] said Xevu calmly, placing a hand over the Zealot's remaining shoulder, yet to his surprise the Zealot merely batted it away.

[You do not understand, Xevu! That thing… When it struck me, I felt an energy upon the blade… It was like a star ran through my body! The strength it held, it was not of a human's!] screamed the Sangheili, but a flare of pain from his injuries cut out his shouting, the alien clasping around the wound with a growl. Rter looked down in worry and made to kneel, but Xevu stopped with a single gesture. Sedo let out a few more ragged breaths, before his training took hold of his emotions. [That thing… It was no soldier… It was a warrior. It held experience, and power beyond anything… It reminded me of the stories father told me… Haktum…]

Rter and Xevu looked at one another, their eyes holding skepticism and dread in equal measures.

What Sangheili worth his blood and sword did not know this story?

Haktum. Sangheilios' Angel of War. The spirit of conflict that led forth towards honor and victory.

It was blasphemous to give a name like that to something that seemed to side with humans. Heretical.

Yet horrifyingly fitting.

Xevu looked at his brothers, before turning his gaze to the ground. Rter had never seen his brother so tired before, even after all the missions and campaigns they had gone through. It was disheartening.

[Whatever it is… Whatever it can do, we have our mission. We'll return to the Long Night of Solace first, and report this to command… And we have injuries to treat beforehand] he added with a solemn look at Sedo.

The two brothers took a moment to absorb those words, before Sedo pushed himself up with no small amount of effort, and all three brothers began once more to head to their exfiltration. The Gauntlet of the Prophets might have been stopped today… But they lived. And that meant they'd try again. It was only natural, after all.

**-O-**

The silence after battle always weighed heavily upon him.

Umbra knelt upon the activation pad, feeling the hum of the ship as he guided it through the skies towards the coordinates given to him by Colonel Urban Holand. The Orbiter was graceful in its flight, far more graceful and silent than something its size should be. But far less than it COULD be.

The years had not been kind to the ship. Maintenance and repairs certainly could help keep it up to specs and ready for anything. But he hadn't been able to reach drydock in quite a long time. Even before coming to this world.

Even now, as the Orbiter was escorted by Noble Team's Falcons, all the humans could see the holes and breaches in the hull, the blue-and-silver paint chipped and worn in several places, the two lower engines in the back more faded than those above it, and a whole section of the silver arches missing. The scars of war betrayed the age of both the Orbiter, and Umbra himself.

Yet those were not the thoughts upon the Warframe's mind.

It had not taken long for Nobles Five and Six to clear out the outpost, the Zealot team having apparently evacuated after their duel with Umbra and leaving only the so-called Grunts and Jackals, with a few other Elites leading them. Following the clean-up, the team gathered once more upon the control room, both to handle the damaged main computer to contact Reach Command, but also to deal with the base's only survivor, Sára.

The daughter of the dead man they had found previously.

Five tried to comfort her, but it seemed the opinion of civilians was the same as those about Tenno. Noble One at least seemed reasonable enough to take her in for psychiatric evaluation, even if her father's body was to be left behind.

While that happened, Umbra assisted Noble Two in repairing the main computer to get communications back up. He did not know much about the technology, but he did know how to make general repairs. As far as he could tell, it was not too dissimilar to Corpus electronics. Smart application of his Parazon allowed Two to quickly remake the main conduits and components and repair all the plasma damage.

Her curiosity on how the wrist-mounted dagger could simply remake matter was something that she seemed content on asking about later, thankfully. With repairs done, they finally managed to contact Colonel Holland and report the attack by the Covenant. It also gave them the opportunity to present their… "Other finding".

That being Excalibur.

The Colonel was quite confused, until the Tenno stepped forward and presented himself. To say the human was surprised would be a correct assessment. Nevertheless, he thanked the "alien" for the help provided, and further requested to meet him in person, a request that Umbra readily accepted. It would do well to prove his word and mettle to the human military, and show cooperation rather than try to strike out on his own. Supplies were always a necessity, and perhaps they could assist in repairing the Orbiter.

It was not the most suited for combat, but his other option was not available.

How he would assist, however, was another thing altogether. How could he better offer his skills? Operating alone was something Umbra did for centuries, yet most likely the UNSC would not allow it. A tactic asset like him would most likely be monitored, to either make sure his allegiance was legitimate or to eliminate him should he show signs of joining the Covenant. An unfounded fear, but justified.

Perhaps to assist Noble Team, or a similar Spartan team? They were the only ones that could keep up with one another, and had proven they could fight in tandem with one another. They would certainly be able to gain results faster. Besides, he had experience working with teams before. Tenno were not solitary all the time, and he had worked alongside other Warframes.

Amongst… Other allies…

Nevertheless, he would abide by their decision. But regardless of how they wanted him to do it, Umbra would fight this war. Humanity was in danger, and he would not take no for an answer.

" _Umbra, this is Noble One_ " came the somewhat crackly voice of the leader of Noble Team through the damaged radio. _"We're approaching Reach FLEETCOM Headquarters. We'll mark the landing point for you, and they'll take you to Colonel Holland"_

"Understood, Noble One. Lead the way" he replied aloud, before turning to focus on piloting the Orbiter onto the base. The two Falcons broke off from beside his vessel and hovered ahead of it, as the three aircraft finally broke through the cloud covers and started their descent into Reach HQ.

Umbra found it far more impressive than what he had seen previously upon the mountains. It was a veritable fortress, filled with several buildings and defensive guns, and a quick zoom from the outer cameras allowed him to see the multitude of soldiers and vehicles patrolling both outside and inside the perimeter, with a healthy amount of land and aerial traffic all around it.

It did not reach the (reluctantly admitted) majesty of the Orokin military fortresses, with their white and gold construction and complex, flowing architecture, but then again these humans built with practicality in mind, not the exuberance and arrogance that the Orokin had so ingrained upon their minds. The fact their own constructions carried with them a ruggedness that certainly could and would last was good enough for Umbra.

As they had instructed him, the Falcons guided his approach into the base, the Orbiter casting a shadow as it passed over the stunned humans below. They gazed in awe, mouth agape at the strange, almost mystical craft that hovered into their base, headed towards one of the clear landing strips close to the hangars. Umbra saw large docking arms, possibly meant for capital ships or other large vessels, and as carefully as possible hovered the Orbiter close to one of them. The engines of the ship groaned at being exerted under gravity but held well enough until the ship was secured tightly upon the metal clamps. The metal shuddered as the weight of the Orbiter settled, shaking once and echoing loudly inside the ship. With that finished, Umbra stood from the control pad and walked back towards the forge area.

While this was UNSC territory, and he put the utmost faith upon the humans, he never felt comfortable heading unarmed. Perhaps something more… Ceremonial?

Pass it off as a cultural trait of his race.

It was technically correct.

In the end, he decided to carry with him a Destreza Prime on his left hip and a Pyrana Prime upon his right. Sabers were always a symbol of status, after all, and the diminutive shotgun was small enough that it could (hopefully) pass as a normal side-arm.

That it could most likely erase the torso of one of their soldiers with one shot was besides the point.

Not a few minutes later, Umbra stood in front of the cargo bay doors as they opened and the large metal ramp lowered all the way to the landing strip. Beside him, Zaktur trudged forward, the Helminth once more clad in the disguise of his Metus shell.

The other difference being that it was now large enough to almost tower over Excalibur.

The Infestation was always hungry. Chargers merely put the hunger and ensuing feeding frenzy into more… Constructive goals.

While Zaktur had been engineered to be unable to produce Infested Maggots, so as to not spread the Technocyte Virus indiscriminately, he could instead metabolize any consumed matter onto himself, allowing the Charger to grow far larger without losing its size due to releasing built-up cysts. The extra mass could then be used offensively, with sheer size increase or by contorting its body into lethal weapons, or defensively, like mutating into armor or regenerating lost flesh.

The humans still reacted as he expected, looking fearfully at the almost vehicle-sized animal walking down the ramp alongside the ancient-looking warrior. And speaking of said humans...

It was a fairly large gathering, yet the majority were engineers and scientists whom Umbra guessed were here to repair and study his ship. In terms of armed personnel, mostly an escort for the important ones standing amidst the ten troopers that stared so fearfully at Zaktur. But two other people did not have that reaction. Instead, one looked at him with sinister eagerness and curiosity, not unlike that of Alad V's. She was a woman, young and with her silver hair tied to a small ponytail. Her eyes, grey and almost devoid of life, stared intently at his every move, her gaze shifting from his body to his weapons and companion, scrutinizing the Warframe as if wanting to dissect him where he stood. Her uniform, a long black coat, covered her entire body, leaving only a few golden lines adorning the arms and lapel, with a strange, silver pyramid badge with a circle on the middle upon her left breast.

Her entire being radiated danger. Best be careful.

The other one, however, was someone he knew was far more trustworthy. Urban Holland looked just as he did through the transmission at Visegràd Station. His buzz-cut hair meshed well with the heavily wrinkled face, the face of someone that conflict had taken and thrown back time and again. His aged brown eyes gave Umbra a tired, yet authoritarian gaze, up and down the Warframe's body and onto the weapons he carried. Indeed, Holland looked at the Tenno just as he did before: a chance, however miniscule, that Reach could fight back harder against the Covenant.

Not victory. He was not delusional. But at least he would bury as many aliens as he could upon the glassed plains of this planet.

Umbra finally stepped off the ramp, one hand resting upon Zaktur's neck and the other resting upon Destreza's pommel. A show of pride, perhaps, but while Tenno were humble, they had an image to maintain. He turned his head the slightest amount to the terrified civilians, giving a short, quick nod before turning back to the commanding officers.

"Colonel Holland. It is an honor to meet you in person" said the Warframe, giving a short bow to the human.

"Likewise…"

"Call me Excalibur. Tenno or Umbra shall suffice as well"

"Named after Arthurian myth?" said the woman, her voice just as cold and direct as her appearance. "Curious… Perhaps you'd wish to enlighten us further". Holland looked at the woman beside him with a glare, before turning back to the Warframe.

"Umbra, this is Agent Mirallia. She represents the Office of Naval Intelligence of the UNSC" he replied, though the Tenno picked up on the slight hint of annoyance upon the man's voice.

"Your ship will be repaired to the best of the abilities the UNSC can provide" continued the woman, shifting her gaze towards the hovering Orbiter, before motioning curtly to the gathered crews beside them. "They will be responsible for the maintenance of your vessel… Though of course, knowledge of its capabilities would certainly assist in the process".

Holland made to protest, but stopped when he saw Excalibur's hand raised placidly. Excalibur kept his gaze upon the agent, yet not out of intimidation. People like her could not be made to be afraid, he knew it very well.

"The good will of the UNSC is appreciated. I will gladly allow access onto my vessel, along with schematics for the necessary repairs and maintenance". The Tenno turned to face the woman, meeting her unemotional eyes with his non-existent ones. "However… I am not a fool that does not see your intentions. The technology within this ship, and within myself, has been desired by others with far greater greed and unscrupulousness than yours. You are not the first". He strode forward, hands still by his side, but close enough that the soldiers visibly tensed and rose their rifles, accompanied by the subtle flaring of metal of his companion. The agent stood her ground however, and even Holland motioned to his soldiers to hold.

"If you wish to search and scrounge aboard my vessel, feel free to do so. But know that there are sins aboard it that even you would not dare tread, if you do not wish annihilation by its hands… Or mine". The woman was not intimidated. He did not expect her to, but he still needed to speak as if she could. Show at least that he meant all those words fully. She looked up at the Tenno, her blasé expression unwavering as she stared down the seven-foot-tall warrior, hands folded behind her back, until Umbra finally stepped away and turned towards Holland. "Colonel?"

"Of course. Follow me" replied the man before turning towards the large concrete buildings in the distance. Miralla gave one more look at Umbra before also turning, but not before giving a sign to the engineers to begin work. And as Umbra and Zaktur strode forward after his hosts, he turned one last time to look at the humans flocking towards his ship.

If the vessel's Cephalon was still aboard, it would most likely be screaming enough expletives to fill the entire Codex, but would certainly keep things safe.

Now… He'd trust it to luck.

And that their greed did not put the Queens' to shame.

**-O-**

The meeting room was quite sparse, with the only "decoration" being the massive UNSC emblem upon the wall, overlooking the rectangular meeting table and holographic display upon the middle. Holland and Mirallia sat beside one another upon one end of the table, with Umbra on the other end, Zaktur laying down on a corner sleeping peacefully, even if he _did_ take up the entirety of the corner with sheer bulk.

The Colonel clasped his hands together in front of his mouth, staring unfocused at the unused holographic display, while the ONI agent kept her gaze firmly upon Excalibur, the faintest spark of opportunistic desire within it.

A fitting reaction to what he had told them.

That being everything.

Or at least, near all of it. He had told them of his system of origin, how he had arrived upon Reach, and his story. The Orokin, the Sentients, the wars and rise of the remnant species, Warframes and their capabilities… Everything that he knew and could safely give them. He told them of the dangers of the Origin System, how Earth had been changed, how humanity never reached out onto the stars, yet at the same time molded the Sol System to their needs, and the wonders that remained. He told them of the mission of the Tenno, their mandate to safeguard humanity and maintain balance upon the system no matter the costs, and of some of the technology they used in their battle.

In return, Holland and Mirallia told him further information of UNSC history. How humanity had crossed into the stars further than any Tenno had dreamed before. How they developed the Shaw-Fujikawa Slipspace Drive and utilized it for faster-than-light travel, and how they had created the Spartans to combat the Covenant.

The scale and history were very different, but in the end, both Orokin and humans had forged soldiers to fight their wars. It just turned out far better to humans in terms of betrayal.

It was during this moment of silence, however, that Mirallia leaned forward, her fingers interlocked and eyes shadowed by the room's lighting. "While we are more than compelled to believe the information you've given and your story… We both know you are withholding information, aren't you?". Umbra turned his head towards her, his posture just as calm as before. Yet inside, the question nudged at something inside him.

Something he hadn't felt in so many centuries.

"And what is it you mean, agent Mirallia?" asked the Tenno in return.

"You have stated that the Tenno were made by the Orokin to combat these so-called Sentients, and that they possessed abilities that allowed them to combat the machines"

"Correct"

"But you have yet to explain one detail… How did you acquire these powers?"

If his hand had not been hidden by the tabletop, they would have seen it clench into a fist. Tightly. "Just as you have not revealed the process that allowed Spartans to be made".

Holland turned to the ONI agent and gave the woman an anger-filled glare, his brows furrowed close to one another. "Agent Mirallia, what is the purpose of this question?"

The woman's eyes shifted slightly to the side towards the man, before she lowered her hands and pressed a concealed button on the table. "Colonel Holland, as we spoke throughout this reunion, the engineers have been hard at work to repair Excalibur Umbra's ship. And what we encountered inside…". Umbra stiffened ever so slightly as the holographic emitter came alive and images started appearing.

They were familiar to him, of course. There was his garden, where he paid his tributes to the two people that mattered the most to him. There was the bridge, with the consoles and machinery necessary to operate the Orbiter, and the lower decks where he forged and modified equipment. There was the void reactor, being swarmed with scientists as they attempted to make heads and tails of a power source they couldn't begin to understand.

There was the door, covered in Technocyte growths and unresponsive to the engineers' attempts to pry it open, with the tumors glowering furiously when they tried to cut them away, forcing the humans back.

And another, marked with the symbol of a lotus flower, also completely sealed, yet also with engineers surrounding it, instruments upon their hands picking up what Umbra knew were traces of energy.

Traces of energy that he knew where they came from.

"You said there are sins aboard your vessel, Tenno. Tell me… Which of them made you?" she said, before vanishing the images. Umbra stared at the space the images had occupied, before calmly reaching onto a pocket on him, retrieving from it his pipe and a lighter stone. The two UNSC representatives watched as the Warframe lit the pipe with a spark, and then with differing levels of surprise as his jaw split into two to accept the pipe. The moment dragged, before the Warframe breathed a cloud of smoke onto the air. Suddenly, the cloth visor parted in two, finally revealing in full the helmet of the Tenno, and the four glowing blue eyes beneath it.

"You tread upon dangerous paths, Mirallia of ONI… Do not ask questions that will cost your life someday" he answered matter-of-factly. Once more, the woman was not intimidated, but her greed and hunger had been curbed with doubt, apparently.

However infinitesimal that doubt was.

Holland looked back and forth between the Tenno and the agent, before letting out a heavy sigh. "In any event… We welcome your assistance, Umbra. I'll take any gun I can have to fight the Covenant, no matter who's holding it"

"And I gladly offer my services to you as well, Urban Holland" replied the Tenno, the leather visor closing once more. The colonel smiles, before pressing a few buttons on the dataslate at his wrist. The holographic display comes up once more, but this time it displays schematics and geographical information of another installation, apparently named Sword Base.

"I'll assign you as an extra asset to Noble Team. Truth be told, I think Spartans will be the only ones capable of matching your pace and skills. If we need you as ad-hoc for other units, we'll communicate with you"

"That is acceptable"

"Your mission will be to head towards Sword Base, an ONI research and command site. The Covenant have begun an assault upon it, and Noble Team has been selected to eliminate them" said Mirallia, her eyes focused on the several topographical pictures of the surroundings of the base.

"If you are in need of supplies such as ammunition or others, we can find some way to replicate—"

"That will not be necessary, Colonel Holland" interrupted Umbra with a raised hand. "All of my weapons can modify pre-existing ammunition into the necessary ones of the weapon equipped. I will make due with what I find upon the field"

"And of your so called energy reserves?" asked Mirallia, once more upright upon her seat.

"Also handled by myself. You will not find me wanting or weakened in the battlefields, I assure you" he replied quickly. With nods of agreement, all three stood up, Zaktur lazily waking from its slumber and stretching out its entire body with some sickening cracks. The Tenno turned towards the two at the door however, hands at his side once more. "If I may request that my Orbiter remain here for repairs, however, I would be thankful. I still possess transport, but this vessel is not a weapon of battle". Mirallia looked at him once more, and the spark of curiosity was born again in her gaze.

"Is that so? Then what do the Tenno utilize for ship-bound combat?"

"Tenno utilize Railjacks. Small crew vessels with enough firepower to fight back against numerous foes". The woman gave one more moment before staring ahead as they continued walking.

He did not technically lie. Tenno did use Railjacks. He himself captained one before, the _Song of the Void_. Sigma-class, like most that survived the Sentient War to be found once more. But the _Song_ had long been abandoned, donated to Cetus to defend their home from any enemy foolish enough to attack and that Unum could not attack with her own power.

No, Umbra flew another ship onto war before. He knew not what fate befell it after the Void dragged him onto this world. Nor the fate of its caretakers.

He hoped for their safety. At least them, he wished for their salvation…

Their walk did not take long to reach the outside once more, and even less to reach the Orbiter. And beside the void craft were now two Falcons, with six familiar armored figures standing by them. The Spartans watched the approaching trio, snapping into rigid salutes aimed at Holland and Mirallia, before a quick motion made them relax. Noble One gave a long look at Umbra, before making a motion to the other soldiers.

One by one, the Nobles stepped forward, lining up in order of their numbers. Then, one by one, they removed their helmets.

Umbra was more than a little surprised by how… Young some of them looked. He knew what war would do to a person, how it would change them… But this was not it. The very few, scant scars he saw upon their faces told not of combat, or at least not all of them. Most told other stories.

Of augmentation.

It seemed they were very much Tenno, then.

"Carter", spoke Noble One, his eyes fixed upon Umbra. He looked to his left towards Noble Two, the girl staring back at him, and nodded. She then turned to the Tenno once more, giving him a quick nod.

"Kat"

"Jun"

"Emile"

"Jorge"

One by one, they presented themselves, names now given to soldiers he finally saw the faces of. Only one had not done so. The black armored one, who had encountered him with Noble Two, now named Kat. He instead simply turned to his squadmates, then back to Umbra.

"… Six" was his answer, and even though Umbra would not push for more, he did see the disappointment and even annoyance upon the stares the rest of Noble gave him.

With introductions done, Noble Team once more donned their helmets and saluted Holland, before heading back to their Falcons. With one last look towards Holland and Mirallia, Umbra bowed to them, before walking back towards the Orbiter, Zaktur at his side once more.

**-O-**

Amidst the bowels of the Orbiter, even surrounded by scientists and engineers working tirelessly to understand repair the vessel, the void reactors remained quiet.

And yet for the briefest of moments, there was one sound.

None of those present could hear it. It did not ring in the air, and it did not echo from any source.

Yet it rung out regardless. Dry, echoing, knocking against the walls of the reactor and outwards from it.

It was a very familiar sound to the living.

It was laughter.


	6. Chapter 6

If anyone ever stated that a Liset was no cramped, they would be lying.

Flying inside the Tenno lander was something of an exercise of patience. It had enough room to fit weapons, the Warframe riding inside and some emergency supplies, but not much more. The frame piloted the ship laying flat on his stomach, with arms bent to reach the joysticks on the side and external cameras projecting a 360-degree panoramic screen around the cockpit, allowing for total awareness of the surroundings of the Liset's flight path. When the landing area was reached, small treads would guide the Tenno towards the exit port, bringing the weapons alongside to be equipped, before finally allowing the drop to be executed.

Perfect in practice and execution.

Still extremely uncomfortable to travel in.

Umbra lightly twisted his neck around, feeling the synthetic flesh and artificial bones crack after so long remaining still. Operators never mentioned this particular problem when travelling in Lisets, probably because they were never required to actually _be_ inside them. Transference always had its perks, even if the operators could fuse as one into their frames.

Once more, Zaktur had not joined him, but this time it had been due to more scientific reasons. The UNSC science team requested the Charger remain behind so they could scan and make absolutely, positively sure he was not a biological threat to any humans.

Though Umbra knew they'd also use this chance to study him so they could understand and perhaps replicate the Technocyte, or something close to it. He made sure to tell Zaktur to kill any part that was separated from him to discourage the humans, and Umbra knew the Charger would follow his commands. And all information regarding the virus was safely locked away inside the hydroponics/life support, where Helminth would never allow them access to.

If they treasured their lives, that is.

He looked to the side and saw the two Falcons carrying Noble Team flying in formation next to the Liset, the Spartans re-checking their weapons once more or just looking out towards the glaciers.

Umbra had been to Neptune and Venus before. He had seen the eternal ice covering those planets. But only ice brought no beauty. It was still, a plain of whiteness and broken reflections. But here… Here, amidst the massive lake, the giant behemoths of solid water co-existed with the rest of nature.

He had heard stories, of how before the Orokin destroyed it in their hubris, Earth had been home to many different biomes and sights. That deserts gave way to plains of grass where animals ran, where oceans teeming with water and life in equal measures separated the continents, and places where the forest co-existed with ice and snow. He had a painting in his room, recovered from an ancient ruin somewhere in the north, that depicted a river cutting through a range of hills, surrounded by trees and with boats sailing upon it. They never learned who the artist was, even going through the extensive archives of the Orokin, but whoever they had been, Umbra hoped they had a long and eventful life.

 _"Be advised, Kilo-Three-Three and Kilo-Three-Four, your current LZ is too hot"_ called in a voice through his comm channel, most likely redirected by Noble Two so he could communicate. " _We're also picking up one more craft alongside you, please confirm identity, over_ ".

As they passed by another island, Umbra noticed Kat placing the data chip they had picked up on Visegrád onto a small tablet. Had she not given the chip to Holland or agent Mirallia? Curious…

" _Confirming, Sword Control, this is Noble One. Third aircraft is friendly, marked as callsign Warrior-Zero-One, I repeat, friendly marked as Warrior-Zero-One. Confirm"_ came Carter's reply in return, his tone just as calm as it always was. It seemed news of Excalibur's addition to the UNSC military had not yet reached Sword Base. The siege was possibly to blame.

" _Copy that, Noble One, callsign and status confirmed_ "

" _Dot, standby to receive and respond_ "

{ _Yes, Commander_ } replied the AI. The Falcons and Liset crested the side of a large island in their approach, and as soon as the land ended, the aircrafts' view cleared... Giving them a full view of the Covenant ship hovering above in the skies.

Umbra did not carry the hatred the humans here had for the aliens. He held only his duty to protect humanity from extinction. And now, he found himself admiring the ship's entire image. Organic, with no hard angles and shaped like a bulbous dagger, and an underhung arc beneath it. It was a graceful construct, a far-cry from the Corpus merchant fleet, or the industrial Grineer war galleons. A simplistic shape, that he knew carried a deadly amount of firepower.

One day he'd find the Covenant's home-world, whatever and wherever it was. Perhaps there, he'd find his answers to all the questions he carried about this crusade.

{ _Coordinates received. Initiate immediate course correction. The Office of Naval Intelligence Sword Base is presently under siege from a corvette-class Covenant vessel_ } warned Dot, followed by all three aircraft having their flight routes remade, this time marking a path around the next glacier and away from the warship. { _Due to the sensitive nature of this facility, use of orbital rounds has been, for the moment, prohibited. Regrettably, my efforts to obtain relevant data on enemy forces have been unsuccessful. However, current defensive forces are insufficient. ONI has requested Team Noble's direct intervention to help secure Sword Base_ }

" _Alright, people, we're stuck with that ship for the time being. Let's focus on the hostile infantry - give those troopers a hand_ " replied Noble One as finally, the trio of aircraft crested atop the final cliff and onto Sword Base.

Below, Covenant and UNSC fought tooth and nail amidst the shadow of the base's monolithic tower. Shield barriers gave cover to the alien forces as they pushed forward against the defending troopers huddled behind concrete pavises, plasma and bullets sailing through the in equal measures. Yet for all the determination the humans still seemingly had, it was obvious they would not last.

Not without help, that is.

" _Kat, Six and Umbra- you're out here. Jorge, Emile - you're next, get prepped_ " hailed Carter once more through the radio.

"Affirmative, Noble One", replied Umbra, turning the Liset to follow Six and Two's Falcon as it approached the landing site. He pressed a few buttons to the side of the joystick, a confirmation sound quickly beeping as Umbra was carried back and his weapons equipped onto him.

A Tiberon Prime was secured upon his back, a Seer pistol on his left thigh, a Glaive Prime on his right was his chosen arsenal. Sword Base was a very enclosed space, but the surroundings were far more open. A variable arsenal would grant him coverage on all ranges.

To complete the loadout, a Kuva Tonkor was locked on the back of his waist.

All ranges covered. Even anti-armor.

He just hoped the architecture could handle the modded grenades. Void knows how many times he was proven wrong on that.

Umbra grasped the handles of the exit port, feeling his feet being locked in place before the cylinder spun, bathing his body in sunlight and the cold air of the mountains. Below, he saw the humans hunkering behind metal shields and taking sporadic potshots. Just behind, the Falcon set down and allowed Kat and Six to drop down, the two already rushing towards the battle.

As soon as the magnetic clamps came undone, Umbra let go of the handles and allowed his body to fall, quickly pulling the Tiberon from his back, setting it to triple-burst and taking aim with it. Before hitting the ground, he fired four times.

Two Grunts fell dead upon the floor, their heads gone. A Jackal blocked two shots with its shield, turning it red instantly, but the third one flew through the firing gap and stroke its arm, tearing the limb from the upper arm down, the alien screaming in pain before being felled by a headshot from a lucky Marine. The last burst impacted against one the deployable covers, smashing against the plasma shield and putting it at the brink of breaking.

Umbra bent his legs and propped his landing with one hand as beside him, the Falcon departed from the LZ, followed closely by the Liset. Kat and Six braced themselves against the ramps and walls of the courtyard, plasma rounds washing over the stone and blasting superheated chunks of concrete around them. Both popped out of cover at short intervals to fire back, their rifles blaring loudly alongside the Marines around them. Umbra dashed towards the balcony upon the right and jumped, easily covering the height in one leap.

An Elite Minor that had just reached said balcony watched the Warframe land just ahead of it and screamed a few words on its native language before leveling its plasma rifle at the intended target. With a powerful push of his legs, Umbra shot forward and grasped the alien's wrist, twisting it until he heard a _snap_ and bone broke through the skin. He pulled the Seer from its holster, placed the gun leveled it against the alien's chest, and pressed the trigger once.

Twice.

Thrice.

The first shot broke the Elite's shields like thin glass. The second burned the armor and fused it to his skin.

The third bored right through and stopped short of blasting out the back. Purple blood flew from the Minor's mouth, splattering onto the floor before its body went completely limp and slackened onto Umbra's grasp.

The Warframe tossed the corpse aside and rushed to the guard rail, drawing his Tiberon once more. Below, the Covenant fired wildly at the human troops, yet he could see the appearance of the Spartans had begun pushing them back. Already Grunt and Jackal corpses laid upon the ground riddled with bullets, depleted shield barriers sputtering energy from overloaded emitters.

Umbra wasted no time. He propped his rifle against the railing, switched it to full-auto, and let loose.

The Covenant did not expect to be caught in a crossfire from two directions. With all their defense focused on the troops ahead of them, trying to box in the few remaining troops Sword Base had, left their flank exposed.

Grunts and Skirmishers fell first, their lightly armored bodies failing to stop the onslaught of bullets from above. The Elites' shields gave them enough time to duck into cover behind their pavises, but the respite was short lived. Through the bullet rain, running at speeds more akin to a vehicle than a human, Kat and Six rushed their targets.

Six shoulder-checked his closest target, an Elite Ultra, the half-ton weight of MJOLNIR slamming against their target at fifty-five kilometers per hour. The alien's shields broke under the sheer mass colliding with it, but the enemy itself remained standing, if slightly dazed. The Spartan threw two lightning-fast jabs at the Elite's torso, his fists cracking the armor beneath them and forcing blood from the Elite's jaws beneath its helmet. He then raised his leg and brought it down on the alien's knee, snapping it like a twig and dropping it to the floor.

Crystal shots smashed against his shields, the Spartan quickly turning around to face the Major firing its Needler Rifle at him. Yet the hail of fire stopped just as quickly as it started when Kat reached the Elite. With easy motions, Noble Two jabbed the alien's throat, grasping its rifle and twisting the gun from its grasp, taking it into her own and striking the Elite's face with the weapon's butt. Kat shot it four times with her magnum, dropping the shields before unloading with the Needler rifle onto it.

Crystalized ammunition buried itself onto the Elite's chest, every three rounds resonating and detonating violently against the metal and flesh. Nine rounds, three explosions, the Elite's torso was a gaping hole of fused metal, bone and flesh.

Both Spartans had downed their opponents in under ten seconds.

"Impressive indeed" thought Umbra, when a loud humming sound reached, growing louder by the second.

"Dropship coming in!" shouted Kat, leveling the Needler Rifle up into the sky. Umbra followed her line of sight and caught sight of the purple, bulbous ship speeding towards the courtyard. He remembered the name from the files Reach HQ provided him with.

Type-52 Phantom. Troop transport and combat dropship.

Its plasma cannon spewed deadly bolts at the troops on the ground, pink and purple blasts tearing into the concrete floor and forcing Six and Two to take cover beneath the ramps leading to the balconies above. The dropship turned as it approached, revealing its door-mounted, Grunt-wielded turret that immediately begun spewing plasma bolts at Umbra. The Tenno crouched behind the balcony's wall, quickly holstering the Tiberon and pulling the Kuva Tonkor from its holster. The Tenno opened the cylinder, checked the grenade still inside.

Primed.

He drew in a breath.

Rose from cover.

And fired.

A ball-sized grenade arced through the air towards the Phantom, a faint trail of smoke marking its path, sailing straight into the Phantom's troop bay just as the doors opened to offload the troops inside, before hitting the floor of the ship.

It was as if the sun dawned before their eyes.

The Phantom was near atomized from inside out, all aliens inside being vaporized in an instant. The troop bay, along with the entire mid-section of the craft was engulfed in a gigantic ball of fire, what little debris that survived the explosion flying off wildly in all directions. Only the rear-most part of the craft that held the engines, and the tip of the bulb that was the front remained intact, crashing down onto the ground in a trail of flames and smoke. Umbra, Kat and Six braced against the shockwave that washed over them, breaking shield barriers, windows and scattering bodies all around.

When the ringing in their ears ended, all present looked at the spot the Phantom had previously occupied, now seeing only smoke, ashes and the two remaining pieces burning on the ground. Not a sign of any bodies.

This was followed by all UNSC troops turning to stare at Umbra, still clutching his Kuva Tonkor and looking between the blast site and the human soldiers.

There were very few times one would be able to witness a Tenno being awkwardly embarrassed of something they had accomplished. Luckily for Umbra, he was the only Tenno in this galaxy.

_Perhaps I overdid on the blast strength…_

"Word of advice to you, Umbra" piped up Kat, tossing her Needler Rifle to the ground. "Don't let Emile know about this. He'll hound you for that gun forever"

"… I'll… Keep it mind, Noble Two" was his reserved reply, Excalibur holstering the grenade launcher onto his waist before jumping down from the balcony. The UNSC troops carefully made their way forward, eyeing in apprehension the burning remains of the explosion still strewn about and the Warframe pacing closer to them.

"Noble Two to Sword Control. Courtyard is clear, over" said Kat onto her built-in radio.

" _Head to the main gate to the east, I'll brief you as you go_ " came the reply through the crackling comms. The group picked up their pace quickly, jogging down the ramp leading away from the main building, past a few small concrete barricades and onto a small bunker with roadblocks and a large metal gate blocking the other side.

Strewn about were several boxes containing weapons, ammunition, and some curious objects seemingly meant for the Spartans' armor, projecting colored holograms onto the air. The troopers let out some thankful words or quick cheers as they rushed towards the boxes and started collecting ammo from them, with Noble Six setting side his assault rifle for one of the DRMs available. Umbra stepped towards one of the ammo boxes and held out his Tiberon over it. A blue light washed over several of the ammo clips, scanning them all at once, before they broke down into blue particles and flowed into the gun. On his HUD, the Tenno saw the maximum ammo counter rise once more to its full value.

So Vigilante Supplies worked perfectly, though it seemed he needed large amounts for a medium payout. He'd have to be more careful with rationing.

Or perhaps bring other guns. The Basmu could self-regenerate ammunition, perhaps it would be a better choice…

To the side, Kat bent down upon one of the boxes to the side, before withdrawing from it a small, pistol-shaped device, with a screen facing the wielder and a scope beside it.

"Sword Control, I see a Target Locator. Any artillery support in the area?" asked Kat, turning the weapon over in her grasp.

" _Limited, but we'll prioritize whatever you need, ma'am_ "

"Hell, with how that guy's gun hits, I don't think we're gonna need artillery" said one of the troopers as he loaded slugs onto his shotgun. Six and Two were the only ones to notice the slight slump in Umbra's posture in response to the comment but kept themselves silent.

Kat gave the locator one more once over, before tossing it over to Six, who deftly caught the device and holstered upon his hip. Finally resupplied, the gathered soldiers moved to the second metal gate just as it began to raise, letting the sunlight wash over them once more. In the distance, the Covenant warship rained down fury and plasma in equal measures at an unseen target. The troops all sprinted up the small incline to come up at the sight of a transport Warthog racing full throttle from between several large boulders. Flames and smoke belched out from the engine compartment, but the ATV's ruggedness proved itself true as it kept going forward, carrying on its back a small group of troops.

It was at that moment, however, that fate played its hand upon the vehicle and its passengers, when two large white-and-blue blobs arced from the rocks and smashed back down: one on the ground in front of the vehicle, and another directly on top of it. The already damaged Warthog never stood a chance, the superheated plasma blasting apart its frame and consuming all the soldiers upon it in a fiery demise. The soldiers accompanying the Spartans and Warframe barely had time to show their anger, when the source of the attack hovered into view. Pushed forward by powerful gravity propulsion drives and wielding large plasma mortars, two Covenant Wraith tanks slid into a tight formation with one another, already aiming their main cannons at the new arrivals. To the side, a small team of grunts lead by yet another Sangheili Major ran into view, brandishing their weapons and being ready for battle.

"Take cover, don't let those things hit you!" screamed one of the troopers, right before one of the Wraiths took its first shot at them. The soldiers scattered all around, even Umbra and the Spartans dashing into cover as the large ball of plasma arced slowly on the air, crashing down upon the ground they had been standing on not a few seconds ago. A few stray plasma rounds flew over their heads, courtesy of the gunner sitting behind the Type-52 turrets atop it. One bolt caught an unlucky soldier on the leg, forcing the trooper down to the ground with a scream. He was dragged into cover his partner, the woman letting go of her rifle to grasp him from under his armpits to behind the hill.

Umbra rested a hand upon his Tonkor once more, trying to visualize where the tanks would be, when he felt someone push him onto the ground.

Noble Six shook his head, before vaulting over the hill, and Umbra saw what he had in his hand.

The Target Locator.

"Give that Spartan some cover, Marines!" shouted one of the soldiers, followed by a roar of agreement as they peered out and fired their weapons wildly at the approaching troops. One of them, wielding a DMR, went so far as to shoot at the tank gunners aiming at the armored super soldier, the aliens' heads shaking with every hit and forcing them to seek cover inside the tank's armor. Another plasma shell was fired in their direction, but this time the shot went wide, smashing instead against the side of the mountain and raining bits of rock and dust upon the marines.

With the punishing plasma fired curbed, Six took his window of opportunity and took aim with the locator, seeing the coordinates displayed on the small screen atop the weapon. He pressed the trigger and held it, a thin green laser sprouting almost invisible to the naked eye and marking a spot between both tanks. The Wraiths slowly turned towards the exposed Spartan, their mortars once more starting to glow brightly with the built-up plasma…

A low beep reached the Spartan's ears, followed by a radio call.

" _Target confirmed, commencing strike_ "

"Take cover" he said in a low, emotionless voice, kneeling upon the ground with his gaze still towards the tanks. The troopers heard his words and immediately threw themselves onto the ground, with hands clasped around their ears and mouths open. Umbra and Kat simply pushed themselves up and watched as a familiar whistle could be heard by their augmented senses.

In seconds, seven high-power, orbit-to-surface missiles fell upon the unsuspecting Wraiths as lightning from the heavens. Each hit shook the area with its shockwaves, felling Covenant troops not braced for the impact and rattling the skulls of the Marines present. Two Grunts close to the impact zone ceased to exist.

The Wraiths fared little better.

Stuck directly beneath the bombardment area, their polymer plating buckling and breaking to firepower designed for targets far sturdier than a tank's armor. The ones that struck the top and back found the most vulnerable targets, that being the less-armored engine and plasma mortar. Red and blue flame mixed together into one massive fireball that consumed both Wraiths, even as the last missile stroke the already-downed first vehicle and found only flash-fried corpses and fragmented plating to tear asunder.

With one single action, where had once been two large mortar tanks, were now two melted and scorched wrecks, with even fewer evidence of its crew. Not far from ground zero, Grunts and their Sangheili leader slowly got up, dazed and disoriented from the sudden attack.

Six reached for his DMR, yet this time it was Umbra's turn to stop him. With an arm extended in front of the Spartan's chest, the Tenno stepped forward and pulled his Glaive Prime from his hip. The three blades quickly extended outwards, and Umbra lowered his stance closer to the ground, pivoted upon his right leg, arm rearing back ready for the attack.

_Wind, negligible. Targets… Eight, counting with the Elite Major. Angle… One hundred and ten degrees. Distance… One hundred and sixty meters._

_An easy throw._

Umbra threw his body forward, swung his arm forward, and let the blade fly.

The Glaive spun and sailed through the air with a faint, ghostly whistle, turning upon the air and nearing the still unprepared Covenant troops.

They never knew what hit them.

Limbs and heads flew into the air in spurts of blood, their owners never catching even a glimpse of the deadly tool scything through them. When it closed towards a boulder, the blade surprisingly bounced instead of digging onto the rocks. Instead, it returned towards the intended targets, continuing its deadly carnage. None could do anything against it.

That is, the _Grunts_ could not.

The Major, regaining his senses and noticing his fallen troops, immediately realized the danger and threw himself back just as the Glaive sailed towards his head, instead ripping out and slicing onto his helmet. The alien cursed loudly yet kept his senses sharp, dodging back into between boulders and distancing from the unknown whirlwind of carnage. The Sangheili raised his wrist to his jaws, ready to warn the remaining troops around the canyon…

When suddenly, a bullet dug straight into the forearm gauntlet, mercifully not reaching his flesh yet destroying the communicator contained inside. And his other one was inside the helmet he abandoned upon jumping back.

The Elite did not get much more time to think up a plan however, before a blue humanoid rushed onto the narrow space that the alien hid upon, firing a small yet very powerful pistol and placing two bullets straight into his skull.

The Major dropped dead before Noble Two had fully reached him, placing two more shots onto the body for safety.

"Coast clear" declared Kat, quickly holstering her Magnum pistol and turning back to her teammates. The troopers climbed out of cover and looked at the carnage surrounding them, before turning to stare at the black-armored Spartan and cloth-covered Warframe calmly walking towards the second Spartan, Umbra lifting his hand just in time to grasp the returning Glaive and safely sheathe it onto his hip once more. The three super soldiers walked towards one another, gazed towards the ruined remains of the two Wraiths that attacked them, then turned to one another and nodded.

A silent understanding between those bred for war. And a reassurance of their capabilities.

" _Noble Two, this is Sword Control, come in_ "

"This is Noble Two, go ahead"

" _The old Farragut Station has its own comms array. That should bring us back online with Command. Airview Base has an anti-air battery that will help clear the skies_ " continued the voice on the other side of the radio. " _We're sending a Pelican carrying transport, but we can only spare one for now. You'll have to make do_ "

"Understood, Sword Control, we'll figure something out" replied Kat, just as a loud roaring sound echoed amidst the ravine. The gathered humans and Tenno turned their heads up and watched said Pelican hover towards them, carrying on its underbelly the promised transport: an LRV Warthog equipped with a machinegun turret. A trooper was already inside the gunner seat, yelling out directions to the Pelican's pilot as the craft lowered itself and its cargo closer to the ground, before dropping the jeep onto the ground. Kat eyed the vehicle approvingly, before turning to the gathered troopers. "Secure the area and form a defensive perimeter around the gate. Scavenge anything you can from the immediate area, but nothing more"

"Yes, ma'am!" came the reply from the soldiers before they sprinted forward to carry out their orders, the only ones remaining behind being the trooper who caught a plasma bolt to the leg and the combat doctor of the squad. Kat quickly jumped onto the driver seat and turned on the ignition, hearing the Warthog's engine roar to life, with Six jumping onto the passenger seat next to her in no time. "Farragut is to the west, Airview is to the east. It'll be faster if we split up to cover both objectives. Which one you'll take?" asked Noble Two, turning to stare at the still on the ground Umbra. The Warframe turned his gaze to each direction, weighing his options, when he caught sight of something racing towards them from the east.

Small, sleek, and agile, the Type-32 Rapid Assault Vehicle, known to the UNSC forces as Ghost barreled towards them at high speeds, firing a few plasma shots that flew wildly off target of either the Warthog, Umbra, or even the exposed troopers.

"DEATH TO THE DEMONS!" cried out the squeaky voice of the Grunt pilot behind the controls of the hover bike, his head and backpack just barely poking out of the cockpit.

Calmly, Umbra eyed the approaching vehicle, unholstered his Seer, and let out one shot. The Grunt jerked back when the energy bolt slammed onto its head, the body slumping to the side and onto the ground as the bike continued forwards before the emergency brakes kicked in and the Ghost slowed to a crawl before stopping completely beside the parked Warthog.

How fortuitous.

Umbra walked to the now vacant bike and sat down on it, eyeing the controls inside. They seemed simple enough.

"I'll head towards the anti-air gun. You handle the generator" said Excalibur before gripping the handles in front of him. The Ghost hummed to life, lifting itself from the ground once more and hovering alongside the Spartans inside the Warthog. With a nod, Kat floored the accelerator and sped away, the LRV dashing off towards Farragut station. Umbra watched them leave, before turning the Ghost west in the direction of the UNSC outpost.

He had an anti-air emplacement to activate.

Umbra floored the accelerator of his newly acquired Ghost…

And almost ran straight onto a boulder before jerking the bike to the side in a very unflattering way, barely keeping himself level as he barreled almost uncontrollably forward.

… This might be harder than he expected.


	7. Chapter 7

"Garei… Nishum…"

Umbra pulled back the Glaive from the Elite General's throat as it gasped out its last words, purple blood spurting out from the large hole as the Ranger slumped onto the ground. He swiped the weapon to the side, wiping the blood from before sliding it back onto his hip. He then stepped towards the activation panel for the AA gun, regarding it for a moment before pressing down on the symbols on screen. A confirmation beep later, and the AA guns around the outpost rose to life, swiveling at the Phantoms and Banshees locked in combat with the Falcons over SWORD Base and raining furious fire upon them. With his work done, Umbra turned away and strode down the ramp onto the building. At its feet, a Ranger slumped against the wall weakly tried to raise a plasma rifle at the Warframe, quickly cut short by two shots of the Seer to his head, reducing it to fused flesh, metal and glass.

An automatic action. Reflex, at most. That is what he repeated over and over in his thoughts.

Umbra pulled the Tiberon from his back as he walked out onto the tattered battlefield that the outpost's patio had become. A Phantom's wreckage burned not too far from the AA turret, the emplacement's first kill before it turned towards the sky. Green and blue blood caked the ground, limbs and pieces of flesh strewn about alongside the bodies of the Covenant troops that tried to fight back. Their faces frozen with semblances of terror etched in their eyes, gazing unfocused onto the forever.

Contrary to what he believed, Umbra discovered that their advanced technology made the aliens no more resistant to his weapons than the Grineer or Corpus. In a way… They seemed even more so. While the empire and the corporations had grown accustomed to facing enemies far greater than themselves, staring down reapers of life that made the world their tool, the Covenant seemed to have grown… Complacent. Their belief in their crusade made them far easier to put down. The fact the attack force they seemed to believe sufficient to subjugate the human defenders fell to his assault showed how unprepared they were.

It would not last, true. In time, they would grow to fear him, as many others feared the Tenno. And with that fear, would come adaptation. But not yet.

Now, he had far more leeway.

Umbra lifted the Tiberon and scanned his surroundings, looking for any errant Covenant ground forces that had escapes his radar or senses, but found only scant plant life and more bodies.

And the flaming wreck of the Ghost he had crashed onto a boulder when arriving at the outpost.

In his defense, he had never driven such a vehicle before, and the controls were very unintuitive. Like all the Dargyns in the Plains of Eidolon, or Corpus Coildrives in Orb Vallis.

Or that Condor Dropship they once had tried to steal carrying weapons to deliver to Solaris United…

Or the Grineer Galleon he took over to wreak havoc on the Queen's supply lines…

At least the controls of his vessels were far more responsive and intuitive.

The Tenno's reminiscing ended when his radio pinged an incoming call, one he quickly took with a simple tap to the side of his helmet.

"This is Umbra"

" _Umbra, this is Noble Two. Six and I just cleared out Farragut Station and got the generator powered up_ " said the Spartan, followed by the dry echo of a pistol being discharged and the dying gurgles of a Jackal. " _What's your status?_ "

"Airview Base is secure, all hostiles eliminated and the defenses are online"

" _Copy that. Sword Control will have troops take over operation of the outpost, Carter's calling us back to the base. Apparently that corvette didn't enjoy us snooping around"_.

"Understood" replied the Warframe, when suddenly his destroyed Ghost let out a burst of flame into the air, taking his attention for a moment. "… I'll require pick-up however"

" _Alright, we're on our way_ ". And with that, his comms shut off. Umbra walked to the downed Phantom and scoured its wreck for survivors or any other surprises, but found only bodies and charred equipment. A few weapons miraculously survived the crash, alongside a few plasma grenades. Umbra quickly took the latter, seeing no reason to loot weapons when his own arsenal proved sufficient, but kept in mind to request some spoils be sent to his Orbiter for analysis.

Suddenly, he heard the now-familiar sound of a Warthog's engine coming from outside, and climbed out of the wreck just in time to see said vehicle fly over a hill and land a few meters in front. Behind the wheel was Noble Two, while Six manned the turret of the ATV. Umbra noted with curiosity that instead of a machinegun, the Warthog was mounted with a rectangular cannon of sorts, reminiscent of his Opticor. A laser weapon perhaps?

"Ride's here, get on board Umbra" called out Kat from inside the vehicle. The Tenno quickly jumped onto the passenger seat, holding his rifle close to his chest. With an approving nod, Noble Two floored the gas pedal, the Warthog's tires grinding against the ground before rocketing them all forward.

The travel back was significantly smoother, helped both by the fact that the Covenant troops in the area had had the unfortunate luck of trying to stop the advance of the super soldiers. Their arrival, however, was hailed by gunfire and plasma.

Where once they had left only dead bodies and wrecks now hurried fresh Covenant troops, firing at the troopers that had remained behind. Panicked shouting and staggered fire rained from the hill just ahead of the gate, but it paled in the face of the crimson-hued bolts that fell upon the beleaguered defenders.

Amidst the rocks, dodging from and into cover, Revenants rained furious plasma with impunity as their Sangheili pilots deftly maneuvered the hovercrafts away from enemy fire. With their position, even if located downhill, they had the perfect cover to harass and finish off the UNSC troops.

But they were exposed to the arriving reinforcements.

The Gauss Warthog's engine roared as it nearly flew onto the battlefield, with both Umbra and Six quickly taking aim with their weapons at the vehicles. The Tenno put his sights on two Revenants closer to one another and let fly two grenades from his Tonkor. The high-yield explosives bounced twice on the ground and landed just short of the first vehicle, but it was close enough. With a thundering blast, the Revenant was tossed aside like a ragdoll, smashing against its compatriot just as both fired. Their plasma bolts crashed against each vehicle, flash-frying their occupants and doubling the resulting fireball as the wrecks flew apart and crashed onto the boulders. This caught the attention of both Grunts and humans, the former screaming in panic as the Warthog sped towards them, while the latter cheered them on, powering through fatigue and injuries.

Kat aimed the vehicle at the panicking Unggoy and floored the gas, hearing the engine roar and vibrate as the Warthog closed the distance to its intended victims. The Grunts waved their arms in a frenzy at turned to run, but their stubby legs could carry them so far.

And it was not far enough.

The occupants of the Warthog did not witness the results of their improvised attack, but they certainly felt it. The ATV shook and bumped as it drove over the diminutive aliens, dragging them across the ground and crushing both bone and skin underneath its unforgiving chassis. A few barely jumped out of the way, only to find themselves prey of the reinvigorated UNSC troopers that jumped from cover and began their attack once more without the fear of heavy plasma raining down. Umbra and the two Nobles quickly jumped from the blood-coated Warthog with weapons drawn, firing off at any stragglers that escaped the aim of the troopers. In mere moments, only humans and Tenno remained in the battlefield.

One of the troopers, a sergeant if the markings in his shoulder were accurate, approached the three trans-humans and gave a pained salute. "Spartans… Excalibur. Good to see you three… Damn Covies hit us as soon as you left, I made to hunker down and wait for you to come back, but…"

"At ease, soldier" replied Kat, holstering her pistol. The man in question sagged as soon as the words reached his ears, arms dropping to his side and rifle clattering to the ground. "Get to the rest of your forces and pull back into the gatehouse". With a sluggish nod, the trooper picked up his weapon once more and dashed back to his troops, followed closely by the three arrivals.

Umbra had grown accustomed to death, to the destruction that conflict wrought. After all, he had been the cause for most of it. Balance to the system was always won with rivers of blood and valleys of corpses, no matter how fleeting it was, so the sight of butchered or dead humans had been a sight that had become stagnant to him.

Yet this was not something he saw much. The step that came before all of that.

The suffering.

The soldiers that had stood strong and brave as he and the Spartans had left to accomplish their mission now huddled close to one another, nursing injuries both of their own and their compatriots, or simply cradling their guns while staring at the ground with a distant, tired look.

Many were unmoving.

Of the twelve soldiers that had held the gate, only seven remained amongst the living. And of those, only three uninjured. Umbra turned to one of the injured, a man, no older than 20, with short blonde hair laying upon the ground with his helmet tossed to the side. His eyes were unfocused, gazing aimlessly at the sky, even as the combat medic tried to stem the blood that poured from the side of his torso, pink crystal shards still poking out of the injury.

"Come on, dammit" cursed the doctor, rummaging through his field kit frantically. "Stay with me, you ain't dying here…". The fallen soldier did not move, yet Excalibur's heightened hearing picked up the faint whisper coming from the soldier's lips. Calmly, the Warframe paced towards the two figures, knelt beside the injured human and placed a hand upon his chest. The doctor eyed the warrior warily, but quickly returned to searching his bag. The blonde soldier's eyes shifted minimally to the side, meeting the impassive visor that stared back, and in that moment Umbra saw something in them. A spark, fleeting as it was.

One he had grown accustomed to seeing.

Without a word, the Tenno pulled his Glaive and extended one of its blades and began reciting a chant he still knew by the letter. "In the tides of life you fall, and the embrace of rest calls. For your duty is fulfilled, and no more can be asked in return. By call of the beyond…"

"Wait what the hell—"

_Shnk._

"I commit thee to the void".

Blood poured from the wound as Umbra pulled the Glaive's blade from the soldier's throat and placed it back on his holster. The medic's eyes widened in horror, the man shoving his way past Umbra to grasp the dying trooper's hand. The young man turned his gaze to the doctor ever so weakly, then to the Tenno to the side. And as the red liquid filled his mouth, he drew his last breath, and gurgled his parting words.

"Th…ank…y…"

And thus, he was no more.

The medic grit his teeth and clenched his fist in anger, his entire body shaking in growing rage, then slowly bent down and closed the young man's eyes. He then grasped the cord of his dog tags and yanked it off, carefully holding the cord and metal plate in the air, before turning to the impassive Tenno, thrusting the cord onto his face.

"Take it" he droned low, tried grey eyes half-lidded. "If you're going to lay them to rest, at least remember their names". Umbra reached up and took the cord, staring at the spinning metal plate hanging upon it. He then carefully wrapped it around his wrist, pulling it tightly against the leather-like skin, before facing the doctor once more.

"I never did, soldier… And never will". The human regarded the Warframe for a moment, followed by his shoulders slumping and him turning mechanically to the remaining soldiers still alive, kneeling beside a woman with a plasma burn on her leg, a small container of biofoam in hand.

Suddenly, the entire place shook, pebbles raining from above as they were dislodged from the cliffsides by the vibrations. In the distance, the sounds of the corvette's plasma turrets echoing faintly to them, and pulling the Tenno back from his own thoughts.

He would have time to mourn later.

For now, he would kill.

"Umbra" called out Six from inside the gatehouse, already resupplied in ammunition alongside Kat, who now held an SMG in her hands. With a nod, Umbra dashed to their side, hearing the doors close behind them as the ones ahead opened once more. Readying the Tiberon once more, the three super soldiers watched the heavy metal plates disappear into the floor, and quickly dashed out as the sunlight beamed once more upon them.

" _We're stalled in the tower atrium, Kat, where are you?_ " called out Jun through the radio, the deafening roar of his sniper rifle almost drowning out his words and the chaotic gunfire around him.

"We're on our way, Three, hold tight"

The courtyard remained littered with bodies, smoke and blood still wafting from them as it did before when Noble and the soldiers had broken through their forces. As one, the three stepped over the corpses as the entrance to SWORD base came into view, its metal doors now open.

From it, they heard explosions and screams. More than enough incentive.

Just as they reached the patio, a green flash exploded just ahead, sending flying a screaming UNSC trooper coated in incendiary gel over their heads to crash down upon the floor, the gel boiling away the deceased. And as the trio rushed towards the source of the blast, they witnessed the chaos reigning upon the loading bay.

A small squad of UNSC troopers screamed and fired wildly into and around the docking bay, assault rifles and shotgun echoing loudly with bullets burying themselves in the thick concrete…

And on their targets.

Umbra had seen many large enemies in his life. Be it by mechanization, such as with Vay Hek and his massive assault platform, assimilation of matter such as with the Infestation, the gargantuan Orb Mothers that terrorized Fortuna or construction and manipulation such as with the Eidolons, size was not something that could intimidate him anymore.

Yet were he on the shoes of an UNSC soldier, without the boons and strengths given by the Void or his centuries of discipline and training, panic would be appropriate response to seeing two Mgalekgolos wiping out your comrades.

Larger than any Tenno or Spartan, the armor-clad blue giants weathered the small arms fire with both their thick plating and massive shields upon their arms, turning their heads to each target as they fired large bolts of green gel at every target they could find.

And though the Marines had been lucky so far, their options for cover were decreasing with every missed shot. Along with their chance of survival.

This could not stand.

The three put forth a burst of speed and dashed onto the hangar just as one of the Hunters punched a concrete roadblock into dust and raised its arms to pulverize a panicking trooper. With quick reflexes, Umbra aimed his Tiberon at the blue titan, switched it to burst fire and pressed the trigger four times. The bullets smashed against both the shield arm and armor, but failed to penetrate the thick plating.

 _It seemed the reports were correct_ , Umbra thought. _Weak points it'll be_.

Quickly switching to full auto, the Tenno held down the trigger and sprayed the Hunter with bullets. Some of them buried themselves onto black and orange flesh between plates, yet they seemed to do little more than anger the colony organism. It did managed to take its attention away from the soldier on the ground, who quickly vacated from the spot and jumped inside the security checkpoint. Six and Two drew their own weapons and fired upon the other Hunter, but the results were similarly useless.

"NOBLE SIX, HEADS UP!" cried out another Marine, the black-armored soldier turning just in time to see a weapon thrown to him, which he quickly caught mid-air.

M45 shotgun, standard issue. 6-shell 8-gauge magnum capacity, pump-action. High power and with an effective range of seventy meters.

Devastating in close quarters.

Perfect. He quickly holstered his DMR and pumped the slider once, readying it for use.

Kat let out another burst of her SMG, the bullets pinging uselessly against the Hunter's shells, then dodged to the side just in time to avoid a blast from the assault cannon that tore a sizeable chunk from the concrete. Quickly, she pulled a grenade from its resting place on her waist, pressed down on the detonator and flung it towards the closest enemy.

The Hunter, however, in a surprising display of agility, simply smacked away the explosive with its shield arm, sending the grenade instead towards a parked truck. The small sphere clinked lightly onto beneath the truck, then erupted in a massive fireball. The fuel inside the vehicle only served to further feed the flames, a massive fireball bursting into the air and covering the ceiling above.

Clicking her tongue in annoyance, Kat loaded a fresh clip onto the SMG and began firing again, drawing the Hunter's attention and away from its bond brother. The blue giant trudged towards her, its shield raised and blocking any attempt of attack, but this was what she needed. Distract it, open it up for attacks.

Said attack came in the form of Noble Six.

The black-clad Spartan ran towards the Hunter like a freight train, shotgun gripped tightly upon its hands. Before the alien could turn, he jumped onto its back, pointed the barrel at the exposed neck, and pressed the trigger.

The 3 inches shell blasted straight into the Hunter's orange flesh, the roar of the gun echoing like thunder inside the garage. Orange blood splattered onto the Spartan's legs as the alien let out a rumbling roar and shook its entire body in pain, trying to dislodge the human riding upon it, only for Six to in reply dig his feet further into the alien's shoulders and press the shotgun's trigger again.

And again, and again.

Six shot and pumped the weapon in seconds, emptying all the shells onto the Mgalekgolo's far more fragile flesh. Pieces of dead worms and torrents of orange blood washed both the Hunter and the Spartan, and yet still the creature would not die. Its bond brother, hearing the cries of pain, turned and aimed its assault cannon at the armored human riding in the back.

In the moment it would fire, Umbra rushed the creature, jumping onto its arm and wrapping his arms around it, pulling the gun arm away. Unable to correct its aim, the Hunter's shot went off into the ground, tearing a large hole onto the pavement and splashing both him and the Tenno with incendiary fuel.

Six, taking advantage of distraction, pulled one of his own grenades, primed it, and punched it through the Mgalekgolo's nape and into the hole caused by the shotgun. Quickly jumping off of the creature, both Nobles took cover as the Hunter swayed on its feet, froze… And fell forward as the grenade detonated inside of it, the alien's back exploding into a massive plume of charred worms, flames, shrapnel and blood. The Hunter's corpse dropped like a boulder, cracking the pavement beneath it and flinging further gore forward.

With the remaining hunter, Umbra's shields flared as they fought against the volatile substance, a blue veil separating his body from the green, gelatinous ammo. Even still, he saw the indicator in his HUD drop by half, and the shield strength alarm blare. With a loud roar, the Hunter pulled its arm back, dragging with it the Tenno still grasped upon it, who quickly somersaulted over the alien and fired at its neck with the Seer.

However, the alien seemed to have learned seeing its partner being injured. It quickly retracted its head close to its torso, hiding away the exposed neck and instead leaving the pistol's energy bolts to strike the plating upon its head. And while the armor scorched and weakened, it was not enough to destroy it completely. Letting out a low curse, Umbra landed and quickly swapped the pistol's magazine, tossing aside the spent one and letting it dissolve onto the ground.

The marvel of Tenno weaponry technology: no traces left. Easily disposable.

He fired thrice more, but the Hunter merely blocked the shots with its shield, and replied with another shot from its assault cannon, which Umbra quickly leapt to the side to avoid. Drawing his Glaive, he channeled energy void onto the weapon and tossed it, the blades leaving a trail of blue aura behind them as it sailed towards the large alien.

Yet the Hunter seemed to care not, instead charging straight at Umbra with its shield held close to its chest and body crouched, leaving the Glaive to sail over its back and instead simply slashing the spikes. Umbra made to jump to the side, but another shot from the assault cannon exploded in his chosen path of escape. With no other choice, the Tenno only had time to cross his arms in front of himself and brace for the impact.

The Hunter did not disappoint. Five thousand kilos of mass slammed directly onto Umbra, lifting him from the ground in its charge before slamming him into the wall behind them, sinking the Warframe three centimeters into it and cracking a large circle around him. The Seer flew from his grasp and landed upon the ground, thankfully far enough that the alien wouldn't step onto it.

Umbra felt his enhanced skeleton _creak_ from the blow just as his shield broke, the blue aura shattering into motes of light. Umbra saw his condition meter drop by a full quarter, followed by the Hunter pressing down on him harder. The concrete cracked further, and it took all the strength the Tenno had to keep the shield from completely smashing him.

Seeing their teammate pinned, both Six and Kat took aim and fired, with even the Marines joining into the combined fire. But the Hunter simply endured the fire focused on it, instead taking aim with its cannon and launching three bolts rapidly at the humans, who quickly scattered to avoid the green gel. The alien stretched its neck until its head was almost touching Umbra's leather visor and let out a low growl. Umbra stared into the four green glowing eyes before opening his visor, showing his own four blue eyes.

"Arrogance… Leads to downfall" he muttered at the creature before rearing his head back, feeling the void energy build up within him.

Kat watched the familiar glow, and quickly turned to her squad mate. "Six!"

"Cover your ears" he replied in return, with all troopers doing so as he and Noble Two shut off the audio receptors in their armor.

The Hunter did not have time to assess what was happening before Umbra lurched his head forward and unleashed the Radial Howl.

The ethereal wail echoed tenfold inside the enclosed space, a terrifying roar that seemed to carry within it the promise of death. The troopers and Spartans felt the inside of their heads rattle even with the forewarning, white spots appearing in the corner of their vision and ears ringing from the aural assault. The Hunter seemed to fare even worse, its entire body spasming violently as each individual Lekgolo worm tried to recover from the ability. Distracted as it was, the gestalt had no way to react to any attempts to kill it.

Which came in the form of a ghostly whistling, followed by the returning Glaive Prime arcing around to hit the exposed neck. The weapon sliced cleanly through the appendage, separating it from the main body and dazzling the Hunter even further. Gathering all his strength, Umbra braced against the wall and heaved, pushing the shield arm away from his body, freeing room for his limbs. Quickly, he grabbed all the plasma grenades he had collected, primed them, and stuck them into the Hunter's chest, then leapt over the creature.

And as the Glaive arced back towards him and Umbra expertly took it in his grasp, the explosives detonated, the Mgalekgolo disappearing in a massive plume of plasma. Just as quickly as the blue flames appeared, they dispelled. In their place was a charred and maimed corpse, a torso with legs slumped into itself and bits of melted armor fused to it.

Umbra let out a heavy sigh as his shields regenerated, the meter slowly returning to full. His health, however, remained lowered, and he could feel the internal injuries being sealed off by his Infested tissue. He wouldn't drop dead, thankfully enough, but a return to the Orbiter would be in order.

Perhaps he should start making regeneration totems just in case…

"Still in one piece there?" called out Kat as she approached, her gaze shifting from the wrecked Hunter corpse to the Tenno as he holstered the Glaive onto his hip.

"I'm alright. This is far from the worst injury I've suffered" replied the Tenno as he recovered his fallen pistol from the ground.

"Let's move then. Marines, treat your injuries then link-up with the squad at the gates"

"Yes ma'am!"

And as the troopers rushed out of the garage, some stopping to pick up fallen weapons or ammunition, the three Nobles collected their own ammo and rushed towards the elevator that miraculously was still functional. With a press of a button, the doors closed and the elevator sped upwards, when suddenly the entire building seemed to shake and the elevator halted, the lights inside flickering.

" _Corvette's hitting his base hard_ " piped in Emile just as the lights returned and the elevator resumed its ascent.

"Where's our orbital support?" questioned Kat back as she quickly checked her SMG. "Got to be four platforms that could take it out with a MAC round".

For his part, Umbra simply did a recheck of his own weapons and tuned out of the exchange. It was a… Different feeling to have support like this. Even in this losing war, a Spartan was given any tool necessary to accomplish, and possessed an entire army that they could count on, an entire industry.

The Tenno never had such a thing. At least, not in this scale. The syndicates and dojos spared what they could, but fighting two system-wide organizations and a trans-solar army was not something they could feasibly do.

Only the more reason to assist these humans.

The elevator lurched as it reached the final floor, sounding a quick ping before the doors opened to the atrium. It was a long, smooth hallway of steel and neon lights, a reception desk just in front of them with ONI's insignia emblazoned above it. The glass panels in the hallway, however, had been shattered to pieces scattered across the floor, a blue walkway visible behind the small wall.

" _Welcome to the Office of Naval Intelligence. An ONI representative will meet you shortly_ " announced the base's PA system, just as an Elite Minor and three Grunts came to view. The aliens looked to the ceiling in confusion, before turning towards the elevator and towards the new arrivals. Both Six and Kat felt their combat enhancements pump drugs onto their bloodstream and heighten their senses to the absolute maximum, and the world slowed to a crawl.

Spartan Time.

One of the Grunts reached to its belt and pulled two plasma grenades, the action slowed to a crawl for their brains. Just as the explosives were raised in the air, the Elite behind him starting to roar a command, the two Nobles had already drawn their DMR and pistol, aimed, and fired.

No wind, a straight line, no obstacles and with the target in clear sight.

They couldn't have asked for an easier shot.

As soon as the bullets struck the small blue orbs, the volatile plasma inside ignited from the spark of metal against metal. The results were… Predictably explosive.

The blue flames engulfed both grunts in their wake, their squealing cut before it could even begin. The Elite, being further away, was tossed back by the impact into the wall, his shields flaring and disappearing with the impact. Before the Sangheili could recover from the blow, Umbra raised his rifle, switched to single-fire mode and shot twice: once on the throat, another straight into its mouth. Blue blood exploded onto the wall behind it, its body sagged, and Elite moved no more.

A second passed, and the two Spartans returned to normal time.

" _Thank you, Lieutenant. You have been cleared for access_ " chimed in the PA announcement once more just as cheerily as before, a designated path quickly popping up in their HUD. The three rushed past the bodies and turned right with a large metal door in their path. Another moment passed, and the door's lock slid out of place, allowing the three metal plates to slide into the walls and ceiling with a loud, echoing groan.

The atrium of the building was a massive empty pillar, with stairs and walkways crisscrossing to connect both sides, several open windows and balconies on each side and a massive glass ceiling and wall at the end granting a wide-spanning vista of the land below.

It seemed ONI spared no expenses when designing the opulence of their own homes.

Suddenly, several plasma bolts flew through the doorway and melted into the wall behind them. Just ahead, Jorge stood out in the open firing Etilka non-stop at a wall of shields held by a group of Jackals, with two Sangheili leading them from the rear. Crouched behind some crates was Jun, the green Spartan rising from cover to take a few shots with his trusted sniper rifle at enemies above them, only to be forced back into cover by an equal torrent of plasma aimed at him. Most missed and struck the floor, but enough had apparently landed on the crate that it appeared more of a pile of molten metal and plastic than its original shape.

"Spartans, Umbra! Over here!" yelled Jorge over the gunfire, twisting his body to the side as a few stray Needler rounds flew towards him. Six quickly took to action, firing his shotgun twice at the Jackals and making their shields buckle, but the phalanx held up still. Kat pressed her body against the wall outcropping and unholstered her magnum, quickly firing both it and her SMG at the Covenant troops on ground level and adding her own firepower to Jorge's impressive one.

" _Six, head upstairs and assist Emile. Jorge, make sure he gets there_ " called out Carter through the comm link.

"Depend on it!" replied the Spartan-II as he hosed down the Elite Minor that made the mistake of leaving the safety of the shield cover with Etilka.

Six and Umbra quickly took advantage of the distraction and raced out of cover, with the Spartan quickly running up a ramp leading to the rooms on the right side.

Umbra, however, took a more… Tenno approach.

With Tiberon in hand, Umbra dashed out of cover and fired at full auto at the Jackals, forcing them back into the cover of their shields and giving further breathing room to the troops on the ground. With the battlefield momentarily on their advantage, Umbra crouched low, tensed the muscles on his legs, and jumped.

Six meters into the air.

The Tenno ran up the wall as the Covenant forces tried to shoot him down. Avoiding the plasma fire aimed at him, once he reached the apex Umbra bent his legs and jumped back, somersaulting onto a walkway and in front of three very surprised and now terrified Grunts. Before the short little aliens could even yelp in fear, Umbra fired the Tiberon at them, gunning them down with a quick full-auto burst. Above on another walkway, two Jackals and an Elite Major took note of the assailant and brought their weapons to bear on him, firing their plasma and needler rifles. With supreme reflexes, Umbra unholstered his Glaive and spun it, using the throwing blade to parry projectiles still in the air before throwing it at the three aliens. One Jackal crouched fast enough to dodge it, while the Elite backed away enough that only his rifle was slashed instead of his arm. The second Jackal however, was not as lucky, and found itself one head shorter, slumping to the ground as blood spurted from its neck stump.

With the blade still in flight, Umbra holstered his rifle and leapt towards the right wall with his Seer in hand, running its length while channeling energy to his feet to keep himself stuck to it. A few more Grunts ran out into the open and fired needlers and plasma pistols at him, but his shields weathered the shots as he returned fire with his own sidearm, emptying the clip to kill the exposed Unggoy.

Just as his running momentum began ending, Umbra flung his Parazon at the walkway above him, the small blade burying itself onto the steel beam. Grasping the energy live connecting his wrist to the blade, Umbra shot into the air as he felt the energies of the Void course through him once more.

But this time, it would not be a roar to paralyze.

_20 enemies… 10 within range… It will suffice_

Tendrils of blue ghostly energy seeped from the Tenno's body, twisting into one another and molding themselves to shape, leaving instead ten ethereal white blades hovering around him, each pointing towards an enemy in his senses.

And as he landed upon the top-most walkway, Umbra grasped the returning Glaive and slammed it onto the ground.

The Radial Javelins flew outwards in a blur, leaving white trails of energy as they sought their intended victims. Walls and obstacles did nothing to stop the ethereal blades, and armor offered no resistance as the Covenant forces found themselves pierced through their chests by the void swords. Bodies were flung off to the side and impaled onto walls, floor and ceiling, blood pouring out from their wounds as the UNSC soldiers stared in shock at the sudden killings, but were quickly brought back to the battle when the surviving Covenant troops began firing anew.

As Umbra went to stand up, a glimpse of something golden glinted off at the corner of his vision, and the Warframe had just enough time to leap to the side before three purple rounds exploded in the spot he had occupied a second before. Recovering quickly, the Tenno eyed his new opponent.

A Sangheili General.

The Elite let out a defiant roar, took aim with its concussion rifle and fired three more rounds at the crouched Tenno, who quickly dashed forward and slid under them as the shots detonated behind him. The General, in response, let out a low growl of frustration before tossing its weapon aside and drawing its own plasma sword, charging head-long towards Umbra.

The Warframe brought his Glaive up and blocked the Elite's horizontal slash, sparks flying off around the two weapons as the Sangheili tried to overcome the stalemate. Acting quickly, Umbra pulled his arm back and ducked, letting the blade sail over his head as he quickly threw an uppercut with his own bladed weapon. To his surprise, the Elite reacted quickly, igniting an energy dagger on its wrist and parrying the Glaive to the side, followed by a kick that Umbra barely blocked with his free arm. Rising to his full height, Umbra began spinning the Glaive in his hand, giving his opponent a scrutinizing glare from behind his visor.

"Excellent moves…" he said in a low tone, taking a more closed stance. "You know your blade well". In yet another surprising move, the Sangheili let out a seeming grunt of approval, before shifting its own stance to something far more practiced, its own body crouched closer to the ground.

"Agreed… Haktum" replied the alien. Its speech was heavily accented, slurred… But it was human speech regardless. And now that he realized it… Far softer than the others he had encountered. "I am Fuma 'Hadamee, General and War Maiden of Sanghelios". Umbra remained silent for a moment, before stopping the spinning of his Glaive.

"Excalibur Umbra. Free Tenno… Scorched Blade of Sol. I accept your challenge" he replied.

Names had been exchanged. He knew what this meant.

One of them would not walk from this duel.

A moment passed… And they charged once more. Fuma thrust her arm forward, aiming her energy dagger at side of his abdomen, but Umbra quickly grasped the limb with his free hand, lashing out with the Glaive towards her armpit. The General swiped with her plasma sword dangerously close to her own chest to parry the blow, sending both blades up into the air, followed by her headbutting him.

The horn of the helmet made the impact far harder, though both warriors' shields weathered the blow easily enough that it simply pushed them apart. Reacting quickly, Umbra threw his Glaive and drew his Seer, emptying the clip on the Sangheili. In response, Fuma took one of the magazines for her concussion rifle from her waist and threw it into the air as she back-pedaled to avoid the flying blades, placing her sword flat in front of her torso. Six shots hit her blade, four stroke her exposed legs and arm, shattering her shields but falling short of her armor… And the last two hit the flying magazine. The energy bolt pierced the containment unit for the compacted plasma charges, and the ammo pack screeched loudly before exploding into a ball of purple-and-red flame, shattering the glass panels beneath it and a large part of the railing and windows.

Umbra jumped back to avoid the explosion as he ejected the spent magazine and loaded a fresh one before emptying it as well through the plume of smoke, grasping the Glaive as it arced back towards him once more.

And though he heard the pained cries of Unggoy, he did not hear any sounds of hitting Fuma.

Instead, what he heard was the sound of more shattering glass. When Umbra dashed through the cloud of smoke…

The General was not there.

Instead, the panes of the window broken by the explosion were missing a bigger chunk, and below he could see a Phantom retreating from the battlefield, with a golden humanoid standing atop its hull and staring back at him. Umbra gazed at the transport and it sped away from the battlefield, before holstering his pistol and Glaive. Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming from behind him, and quickly turned to meet whoever it was.

It was Noble Six.

"Umbra" greeted the armor soldier, holding his shotgun close to his chest and with an assault rifle now attached to his back instead of his DMR. Six took one moment to look at the site of his duel, before turning back to the Tenno. "Trouble?"

"No… Simply a diversion" he replied, taking hold of his Tiberon. The Spartan made to reply, when suddenly the building shook once more, with dust and pieces of stone falling atop both super soldiers.

" _The corvette's gonna rip this base apart! What's the situation, Noble?_ " cried out Sword Control through the radio, his panic still seemingly held in place with utmost discipline.

" _Can't do this on my own! Need another Spartan up here!_ " growled Emile, though his voice was muffled by the intense gunfire roaring in the background. With a quick look at one another and a nod, Six and Umbra took off running towards the marker in their HUDs.

**-O-**

Atop the retreating Phantom, Fuma 'Hadamee opened the emergency hatch on the hull and jumped down to the passenger hold of the dropship filled with injured soldiers: a team of Jackals, two Elite Majors and one Ultra, and a single Unggoy pacing after a Huraggok as it worked on the armor and weapons of the troops. With a drawn-out sigh, the War Maiden walked towards a secluded corner of the hold, sat down and removed her helmet, feeling the cooled, recycled air inside the Phantom against her scales. She turned her helmet around in her claws, staring at the ceremonial horn atop it, then chuckled low.

[General, your orders?] asked a Sangheili Ranger she recognized as the co-pilot of the dropship, as he walked towards her with a med-pack in hands. Fuma took the pack and gave him an appreciative nod before opening it and withdrawing some of the items inside.

[Contact the _Long Night of Solace_ ] she replied, pressing a gel cooler onto her torso, a wince of pain escaping her mandibles as the large bruise flared in pain. [Field Marshall 'Luhomee will wish to hear about this]

[At once, General]

And as the Ranger returned to the cockpit, Fuma looked down once more at her helmet, running one finger over the sunken-in horn.

[This war has become… A lot more interesting]

**-O-**

Emile let out a growl of frustration as he once more had to duck behind fallen debris to avoid the strafing shots of a Banshee, quickly replacing the spent cylinders of his rocket launcher with new ones laying on the floor before rising once more to shoot rockets at the fighters circling around the opening. One rocket missed when the Banshee it was locked on to rolled to the side, but the second one quickly caught the fighter as it was recovering from the maneuver, reducing it to a flaming wreckage as it crashed onto the ground below. Quickly replacing THAT cylinder, Emile looked to the pile of ammunition at his feet.

Four more cases… Meant eight reloads. Yeah, should be enough.

Just as he finished placing another tube onto his weapon, Emile heard the sound of another impulse engine approaching, one far heavier, however. And lo and behold, a Phantom flew over his head and turned to the side, allowing its Grunt door gunner fire the side turret at him in a torrent of angry plasma bolts.

"Dammit" he cursed as he threw himself to the ground, several shots of the turret missing his cover and instead flying over his head. "Anytime now would be good for the cavalry". Emile heard the telltale sound of the Phantom's troop bay doors opening, ready to drop its troops onto him…

Suddenly, two small cylinders arced through the air off to the side and bounced into the inside of the Phantom, then detonated in an absurdly massive fireball that sheared the entire middle of the transport off, leaving the remaining two halves to fall away. Emile watched in a mix of surprise and _absolute glee_ the space the Phantom had occupied, before turning to follow the small trail of smoke to his saviors.

And lo and behold, there came running Umbra and Six, the Tenno holding his Tonkor in one hand and the Tiberon on another, the Spartan clutching an assault rifle with a shotgun on his back. Umbra quickly holstered the grenade launcher and began firing into the air with his rifle as he jumped onto a higher vantage point. Six raced towards his fellow Noble, quickly scooping from the ground an abandoned rocket launcher of his own before crouching beside Emile, loading fresh tubes into the weapon. "Four" he greeted, taking one knee on the ground before firing off one rocket.

"Six" replied the skull-faced Spartan as he took aim himself, firing off a rocket at a Banshee that had decided it was a good idea to charge the now two Spartans and was instead greeted with a 102 millimeter rocket square to its front. Another fighter flew by and fired its fuel rod cannon at them, but the blob of gel was, surprisingly, sliced out of the air by the Glaive tossed by Umbra, the projectile exploding harmlessly in the air. As the Banshee tried to speed away, another grenade sailed through the air and struck the fighter, blasting away its entire right side when it detonated.

Yeah, Emile was _definitely_ asking for that gun.

It wasn't long before the number of Banshees thinned under the onslaught of the three super soldiers, however. Especially when from the same hallway Umbra and Six had arrived from emerged Jorge, Etilka primed and ready as he began firing high velocity explosive slugs at the fighter craft. Within moments, there were no more fighters in the air. Umbra jumped down from the perch and holstered his weapons as he approached the three Spartans.

"Nice work up there" said Noble Four, before motioning to the folded Tonkor with his shotgun. "Care to share?". Before the Tenno could reply, however, their radio crackled to life.

" _Noble Team, Longswords are inbound and ready to push. Orbital defenses standing by to take the shot_ " said Sword Control. The four soldiers walked to the edge of the destroyed building floor and watched as the triangular shape of two Longsword fighters flew past above them, heading towards the Covenant ship. The corvette, seemingly abandoning its original mission, turned away from SWORD Base and sped away, followed closely by the two human craft. Its engines glowed a bright blue as the large craft sped away from the base, its nose rising towards the sky as it began to gain altitude and seemingly uncaring of the Longswords tailing it, who then banked to the side and abandoned their pursuit of the larger vessel.

Just as the corvette began its ascent, a bright white lance fell from the sky, goring the ship from above and exiting below, a massive pillar of fire trailing behind the MAC round as it fell onto the waters of the lake blow. The corvette's engines sputtered and died as the bulbous ship faltered in its path, then began falling onto the cold body of water it hovered over.

The Spartans and Tenno watched in silence the grim spectacle in front of them. It was a small victory for the humans, one that had hopefully cost the Covenant something.

But they also knew that it had cost UNSC far more for this. And there were still many battles in the future.

Emile quickly left them, walking back through the debris and disappearing inside the building, leaving Jorge, Six and Umbra at the impromptu balcony.

"Beautiful, ain't it?" piped up Jorge, his gaze still held upon the ship that now began sinking beneath the waves of lake Babd Catha. "Someone should take a picture". The Spartan-II then raised his arm and gave Noble Six a pat in the shoulder that would most likely have broken a human's spine, but merely made the black-armored figure lightly lurch. "Nice work, by the way"

"I aim to please" replied the Spartan III.

_Click_

Both Nobles looked beside them and stared in amusement as Umbra lowered a camera-like device from his head and pocketed it into a void pouch. The Tenno turned to meet them, and shockingly, gave them a small shrug in return.

The moment was cut short, however, by their radio once more crackling to life.

" _Five, Six… Get down to the science wing. Doctor Halsey wants a debrief, and Command's saying we're all hers_ " called out Carter, his voice carrying a slight tone of irritation as he spoke. " _You too, Umbra_ ". Jorge stiffened as he heard the news and quickly tapped at his helmet's comm unit, walking towards where Emile had disappeared before being joined by Six and Umbra.

"Repeat? Sounded like you said 'Halsey'" said Jorge with a mildly surprised tone.

" _I did_ "

"Copy that, on our way". The large man then turned to Six and Umbra, giving a quick shrug. "Don't need Command to tell me… Been hers half my life".

And so the three soldiers entered the building once more, leaving behind the sight of the corvette as it sunk, forever entombed beneath the waters of Reach…

**-O-**

The rest of Noble Team were already inside the science wing as Jorge, Six and Umbra walked into the room, the Tenno taking careful note of the area.

It was a relatively small room, an empty block of gun-metal steel with a glowing blue window splitting it in two, a metal cube with a glass drawer on the middle next to a large door connecting both halves. In one half stood Carter, Kat, Jun and Emile, with only the latter still wearing his helmet while the others held theirs tucked under their arms.

In the other, behind said blue glass, stood a woman he had not personally met, but knew of thanks to Agent Mirallia and Colonel Holland: Dr. Catherine Halsey. UNSC scientist, and creator of the SPARTAN Program that had created the super soldiers tasked with saving humanity.

She had black colored hair, cut short and adorned straight and smooth around her head. Her blue eyes seemed cold, reflecting in them a wisdom and knowledge that few could even attempt to claim to have. Her face was immaculate, a mask of professionalism, but marked with faint signs of stress and catching-up age. She was dressed in a large white coat and grey cold-climate pants, with heavy white boots on her feet.

Even through the glass, and even with her decidedly human heritage and countenance, Umbra felt a familiar chill in his spine as he gazed at the woman. It was something he had felt in the presence of only one other type of person.

The Orokin.

She was like them. Even if her intentions and goals were far more noble than the accursed old masters of Sol, she still shared something with them: the thirst of knowledge, and that well hidden desire of searching for answers, searching for more than they knew.

And in a way, she was more dangerous than them.

Unlike the Orokin, she survived her creation.

"I requested your assistance, Commander, and do not need a report on events that occur on my own doorstep" said the doctor with some bite at Carter, staring at him with those same cold, distant eyes "What I do require is a detailed account of your previous engagement-".

Her words seemed to fade away, however, as she turned her eyes towards the new arrivals. Umbra noted the scrutinizing stare she gave him, one filled with curiosity and wish for knowing more of him, before she turned her gaze to the tallest of the Spartans, and her features seemed to soften minutely. "Jorge. It's been too long"

"Ma'am" replied the Spartan II, removing his helmet and giving her a polite nod in return.

"What have you done to my armor?" she asked in amusement, running her eyes over the heavily modified MJOLNIR. Both Six and Jorge followed her gaze, with the latter shifting somewhat uncomfortably at the remark.

"Just some… Additions I've made" he replied with some embarrassment, which only served to bring a small smile to Halsey's face.

"Indeed" was her response. She then turned her attention back to Carter, and with it returned her mask of seriousness, her eyes once more filled with coldness. "Visegrad Relay. Its data center was home to one of my xeno-archaeologists, Professor Laszlo Sorvad. Perhaps you could shed some light on his death"

"If he was a civilian male in his mid-sixties, he died with a Covenant energy sword through his abdomen" replied Noble One, betraying no emotions with his response. Umbra recalled the old man laying dead in a pool of his own blood that they had encountered inside the communications outpost.

Hadn't there been a chip beneath his body?

The same chip he had seen Kat carry with her aboard the helicopter when they were heading towards SWORD Base…

Halsey's voice quickly brought the Tenno back to reality and to the conversation at hand. "Elites, then"

"They engaged us as well" added Jorge, taking a step forward as he spoke. "It was just, uh, just after we found your scientist's daughter, ma'am. She was hiding in the-"

"Irrelevant" cut off the doctor. If Jorge was bothered by her action, Umbra could not see, but considering how the Spartan had reacted towards the traumatized girl, then he was most definitely hurt by Catherine's attitude. "The Elites. Tell me more about them"

"Three of them. Two Zealots, one Field Marshal" spoke up Umbra as the attention was turned towards him. "They attempted to engage us and assassinate the woman. I engaged them in a duel, maimed one and forced the three to fall back" he finished, recalling the sword battle between himself and the aliens, and how he had relieved one of the Zealots of his arm. The answer seemed to intrigue the doctor, judging the glint of curiosity he saw in her eyes.

"Zealots… Are you certain?"

"Their armor configuration matched" answered Jorge.

"Shield strength too" finally spoke up Six, barely moving his head as he spoke.

"I gave the order not to pursue" said Carter, his semblant still entirely neutral. "Our primary objective was to get the station's relay back online". That, however, seemed to be the wrong answer to Halsey, who's face immediately scrunched with disappointment.

"Your primary objective?" she asked with near disdain as she glared at Noble One. "Commander, are you a puppet or a Spartan?". That response drew an indignant look from both Jun and Emile, both shifting their stance ever so slightly.

"Ma'am?"

"There are those at ONI, myself included, who believe the Covenant dispatch Elite advance teams to hunt down artifacts of value to their religion" she began explaining, pacing side to side as she spoke. "Survivor accounts suggest such teams are small, nimble, and almost always Zealot-class. No doubt they came to the station for the abundance of ONI excavation data stored there. And you let them get away" she ended, frustration now clear in both her tone and expression as she eyed the leader of Noble Team.

This time, Carter's face became far more serious, and his posture became somehow even more rigid, adding one or two inches to his height. "Data retrieval was not a command directive. Even had we known, we had other, more urgent matters to attend to."

"Like warning a planet" snarked Kat in a low tone, her stance as relaxed as always, even as Halsey turned her disapproving look to Noble Two.

"Professor Sorvad's final entry in his field notes made reference to a 'latchkey discovery'" mused Catherine as she paced closer to the glass drawer. "Latchkey... not a word he would use lightly. So let's hope that the data module your Lieutenant Commander stole contains it" she finished, eyeing the Spartan that shared a name with her with a look of both victory and a small hint of smugness.

"Kat?" questioned Carter as Noble Two stepped forward in frustration, pulling from a container in her belt the same chip Umbra had seen in her hands aboard the Falcon, tossing it inside the glass drawer that Halsey pushed forward to her.

"Before you ask, I was alerted the moment you attempted to access its contents. As I am with any unauthorized tap" said the doctor, her voice returning to the professional tone she had begun the conversation with as he pulled the glass back and reached for the data unit. "That data is classified Tier One... I could send you to the brig for interfering with my work.".

 _That_ comment seemed to be one step too far for Carter, who walked closer to the glass and Halsey. "Maybe you'd like to join her"

The doctor, to her credit, seemed quite taken aback by the comment, turning to face Noble One in genuine surprise. "… I'm sorry?"

"We're currently under emergency planetary directive, WINTER CONTINGENCY" continued Carter, and his expression seemed to grow as cold as Halsey as he continued speaking. "I'm sure you're familiar with the punishment for civilian interference with a Spartan deployment".

"Are you _threatening_ me, Commander?" asked Halsey in return. If it was anger or pleasant surprise in her question, Umbra could not tell, but it seemed to be enough for Carter, who slowly walked towards the exit.

"Just making a reading suggestion ma'am". And with that, the rest of Noble Team followed their team leader to the exit without a word, leaving Halsey to instead stare intently at the data unit in her grasp. Only Jorge and Umbra made motion to stay, with the former offering another educated nod.

"Ma'am"

"That… Will be all, Jorge" replied the doctor absent-mindedly, still with her eyes on the chip. The Spartan calmly walked out, leaving only Umbra upon the room. The Tenno gave the woman a short bow, and turned to leave…

"A moment, please"

But stopped when he heard the doctor call out to him. Umbra turned back in her direction, and found himself staring into Halsey's eyes once more, that same hunger of knowledge back in her gaze. But now there was something else on them… Something… Unfamiliar to him.

… Pity.

"I've read the preliminary reports about you written by ONI, based on your own statements" she continued as she slid the module into a pocket on her breast. "I've also received the first results of the analysis of your ship and its technology".

The woman took one step closer to the glass wall, her nose almost touching the clean, blue surface, and crossed her arms behind her back. "I intend to one day sit with you, ask you about the culture and history of your species. What you know of its rise, and its fall. Of the stories you can tell me of the Earth and Sol System you've lived on, and what you've experienced of it".

Her stance seemed to soften, however, as she spoke her next words as she stared towards the ground. "But now, all I need to know is that you are like them. To know that you've suffered… So I ask of you… Please. Give your aid to them". And when she raised her head once more, Umbra saw the sadness that now spread across her face.

"To humanity… To my Spartans"

Umbra regarded the woman for what felt like an eternity, before turning and walking towards the exit. Just as he reached the arch, however, the Tenno looked back towards Halsey.

"… I will"


	8. Chapter 8

Sergeant Andrew Hawthon was angry.

Furious.

Absolutely livid.

Could-rip-off-a-Hunter's-head pissed as fuck.

Not only he had to deal with news of the fucking Covenant being on Reach, not ONLY he had to deal with some crazy-ass new alien wielding a goddamned sword around, NOT ONLY he had to play babysitter for a bunch of eggheads tinkering with that alien's ship…

NOW he had to deal with one of his own troopers that had been assigned TO said ship NOT being at his post, where he should damn well be.

So now here he was, stomping his way towards the last place Private Tim Murrows as nervous Marines stepped out of his way and cast aside glances, wondering who had been stupid enough to anger the infamous Sergeant. Hawthon covered the distance between FLEETCOM's main building to the edge of the base in record time, stopping right at the eastern gate as four troopers saluted his arrival.

"Sergeant Hawthon, sir!" shouted one of the troopers as the middle-aged soldier glared at all four Marines before a nod made them drop their arms and relax their postures.

"I've been told Private Murrows was seen nearby" he replied, his rumbling, gravely voice shaking the soldiers to their boots. "And I'd like to remind him that all vacations are cancelled until we boot these aliens off the face of the galaxy. Has he passed through this gate, trooper?".

The marine, to his credit, merely shifted on the spot instead of shitting his pants like the Sergeant expected him too. "… Yes sir, Private Murrows indeed passed by this gate. He was headed towards River Kígyó ten minutes ago. He was with… one of the scientists, sir".

Hawton's eyes narrowed as he glared at the trooper, the young man gulping nervously as he forced himself not to look away from the sergeant's, until finally the older soldier let out a grunt of acceptance and strode away towards where the private had been seen, already preparing every single insult he could think of to hurl at the poor sod. Plus a few he'd make up on the spot. Four minutes later, and Hawton had managed to walk the distance between the base and the Kígyó.

The river cut right beside FLEETCOM HQ, and provided them with a source of both fresh water and a secondary power plant to support their solar and nuclear plant. It also provided some extra food to make the military gruel somewhat tastier. Overall, a pretty useful asset.

It was NOT meant for little dainty trips out of base or for unsanctioned breaks.

And as the sergeant finally spotted the figure of Private Murrows standing at the edge of the river, conversing with another person in a lab coat, Hawton sneaked as silently as he could towards the two, his first invented insults at the tip of his tongue as he finally reached the two.

Said insults vanished into the eternal forgotten of his subconscious when he stood ten steps behind the two "missing" personnel, and realized they had a lot more company.

Hovering right at the riverbed side by side were about six floating machines, looking like those old satellites from the 21st century, with two flaps atop them and a small claw arm and antenna hanging upside down from their main bodies. Behind them stood both the private and the scientist that had been said to have been alongside him, discussing quite excitedly what he assumed to be the flying robots.

Or maybe it was the large pile of fish between them.

Suddenly, one of the robots let out this… Sound. Like a wind chime. It then quickly turned and fired its claw into the waters, a thin glowing line trailing behind it. The claw disappeared under the surface for a moment before the line went taut, and the claw reeled back with a fish on its grasp, which it quickly added to the pile behind it before resuming its sentry over the waters.

… Alright, enough was enough.

"I don't remember giving you time to go on fishing trips, private!" shouted the sergeant as he stepped closer. Said private and the scientist next to him jumped as soon as the words reached them, the two spinning about to face his call and snapping to supremely stiff salutes.

"S-Sergeant Hawton, sir!" almost squeaked out the private, a sound quite unbecoming of a Marine.

"W-We weren't expecting your presence, sir!" stuttered the researcher, sweat already pouring down her head as her eyes darted to and fro. Behind them, the robots turned around lazily to face the sergeant, hovering around the two in curiosity.

"Of that I most definitely sure, miss Eldrer" replied Hawton, arms crossed as he kept a close eye on the flying machines. "And I sure hope your excuse is good enough, or you two will find yourselves an easy way to burn all that fish, so help me God".

The private and scientist looked at each other and the robots nervously, the cold sweat drenching the nape of their neck, until finally Murrows let out a let out a long sigh, and his posture sagged. "We… Have been keeping an eye on these robots, sir. They've been leaving the ship for some time now, but—"

"But we've had no one to keep watch, considering the lack of manpower" continued Eldrer. "So… I enlisted private Murrows to escort me while I made sure these… Sentinels… Weren't a security risk to the base"

"And who gave authorization for such a thing?"

"I… I took the decision myself, sergeant. And Mr. Murrows was in charge of the room where these robots were residing on, so this is simply an extension of his duties, in… my… opinion…"

Her voice slowly died down under the sergeant's ever-more disapproving glare, who only relented when it was turned towards the robots, who remained where they had floated to and still surrounded the two accused, yet were now turned towards Hawton. And after what felt like an eternity, the sergeant let out a deep sigh and scratched the back of his head.

"Mhmmm… Alright, I'll take it as a… Mildly acceptable excuse" he replied, filling both scientist and private with extreme relief. "However. Your conduct was still out of line, and even if it had the safety of this base in mind, we are still in a situation of crisis. You could have endangered all of the men and women inside this complex if you were spotted".

At hearing those words, Murrows and Eldrer felt a pit open in their stomach, the realization sending a massive shudder up their spine, and with grim resignation, lowered their heads in shame.

"Return to headquarters immediately, we have new orders from command. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir…"

And thus, the two began their journey back, leaving Hawthon to stare at the slowly retreating figures that disappeared into the tree-line and now alone with the six robots. The sergeant turned to look at the little machines, and was quite surprised to see them instead hefting the fish they had caught after the two humans, holding the pile in the air inside a translucent blue orb as they also disappeared amongst the foliage.

And after a few moments, and another dreary sigh, Hawthon paced back towards the base.

He was not happy. At all.

Damn Covenant. Damn war…

**-O-**

Intelligence is power. Counter-intelligence is greater power.

To decide which is which, is to rule the battlefield.

Mirallia had this drilled into her head since a young age by her instructor during ONI recruitment and training. It was not something any person would call humane, what with their blatant disregard for human life and instead focused on victory at all costs, and survival of species as the end-goal. She had seen the redacted documents detailing instructions on how to sacrifice lower-class strategic targets in favor of higher-probability victories, even if only by a tenth of a decimal of improvement, the SPARTAN-III recruitment history, even the sealed records for possibly sacrificing Earth in favor of the planned ark that was Project: CASTLIGHT, even if the admiralty already knew of its construction and had placed that damned idiot del Rio in command of it.

And yet, for all this knowledge and capability of quick-thinking and adaptation… She had found herself an unknown.

Excalibur Umbra.

Her report had been revised three times, and even then she found it contained so little, and also so much. Their scientists had been near-salivating at the prospect of studying and processing the alien vessel that had been piloted straight into their hands and whose owner was openly allowing access to it, even if limitations had been expected and indeed found, and what little they seemed to have gleaned from it was… Remarkable.

Or at least, that had been what the head researcher had told her ten days ago. And he had not built upon that statement ever since, apparently too engrossed in his work to speculate further. The attack on SWORD Base had delayed her questions even more, but at least the dig site had been kept undiscovered.

Mirallia did not care how much leeway Catherine Halsey had with ONI's higher ups, she should better deliver the necessary results with the ruins and data, or they'd take things into their own hands.

Her musings were cut short, however, when a blue light blinked on her table thrice, and a Mobius Strip hologram sprung to life upon it.

"Ma'am, Doctor Alken has arrived"

"Let him in" she replied, quickly turning towards the door of her office. The hologram promptly disappeared as the door split into two and slid into the wall. And through the arch walked the person she had been expecting most the past week.

Unruly brown hair, glasses with one lens cracked, a 5-o'clock shadow and eye bags large enough to show he had not properly slept in days. For anyone unfamiliar with the ONI personnel of the base, they'd take the man as either an overzealous loon or someone unprepared for their position. But Mirallia knew Alken. And if there was one man she'd trust with reverse-engineering unknown xeno technology, it was him.

"Doctor. You are late" she spoke softly, hands clasping together as she watched the man pull the chair back and throw himself onto it.

"Yes, agent, I am aware of such a fact" he replied in a sarcastic tone, rubbing his eyes in a token effort to push away the tiredness. "An apocalyptic war and a first-contact scenario one after the other tends to do that"

Had it been anyone else from ONI, the doctor would have been severely reprimanded.

Fortunately for him, it was Mirallia sitting across the table.

"Nevertheless, your report?". At those words, his entire demeanor seemed to shift. Alken's posture straightened out, his eyes became sharp and his tiredness seemed to vanish completely. The man ran a hand over his disheveled hair to straighten it, reached onto his jacket and pulled from it a small data pad, its screen darkened and only displaying ONI's eponymous pyramid. "Moebius, isolate this room, full lock down"

"Of course, Agent Mirallia". And as the AI made all the terminals but one inside her office power down, shut off all bugs (those she had placed herself, and those she found while looking about) and barred the walls and door with white noise, Mirallia watched as Alken linked the data pad to the one remaining monitor still lit, consequently the largest one. A few taps on the screen and the screen began filling with locked files, all of which opened themselves to reveal research notes, data readings, schematics…

All that was accrued from analyzing the so-called Orbiter hovering outside their base.

"This vessel, however it was built, is something that… Completely baffles me" began the scientist, as he focused on several blueprints and schematics of the large lander. "It's not meant for combat, that much it is obvious, but its capabilities show a focus on long-duration, minimal-contact deployments. Apparently meant to house an AI or something similar, but the system reports it missing. The alloys and materials that compose it are all unknown, but we're about halfway through synthesizing a suitable copy"

"And with what you know?"

"I'd pay any money to have a look at the original process, if I'm being honest" continued Alken as he scratched his beard with his free hand. "Lightweight, capable of sustaining impressive amounts of stress, easily repairable… And apparently, dated to over eight millennia of age".

Mirallia let that number sink into her mind. Eight thousand years old.

This ship had remained functional for almost ten millennia, and seemingly only now showed damage and tear. Even the Covenant had to replace their vessels when age finally did them in. How could a ship this small and this unassuming be so… Ancient?

"As much as the ship itself impresses, what's inside is… Even more so" continued the doctor, selecting another file. This time, it focused on a flat table with a metal arm over it, and several holographic cubes floating in a grid pattern. "This is the Foundry unit, a standard of all Orbiters apparently. It utilizes raw materials to fabricate anything uploaded to its database"

"Anything?"

"Anything. We've combed through some of the available projects, and it's honestly fantastic. Take this rifle for an example". Alken tapped onto his screen until a series of images surrounded the Foundry, picturing in them a long, archaic-looking rifle. "This is a Latron, a semi-automatic rifle. And it is made from salvaged metals, alloy pieces, tissue infused with nanites and a completely new material that we are still trying to understand how it could feasibly exist in real space. All built in a matter of hours, with no other input besides starting construction". Every time Alken listed one of the construction materials, its related image and information would appear on the screen, and they only made Mirallia more curious. Beside her, Mobius dutifully catalogued all the intel that was given, all to be compiled into a data packet for ONI's HQ on Earth for possible application and, if they were lucky, mass-production. "If we could upscale this technology, we'd be able to build warships or even entire space stations while completely skipping any refining process, just directly going into actual construction. It is not even a theoretical, the foundry can already do the same with entire landing crafts after the components are pre-built". The doctor scratched the back of his head as he dismissed the pictures of the Latron and turned back towards Mirallia. "In terms of actual equipment, it is… A more complex matter"

"How so, doctor?" questioned the agent, leaning back onto her chair.

"Some of his weapons seem easily producible, provided we identify the required materials. Others are… Honestly, I question how they can be considered practical or even doable. Bows that fire arrows that cause an implosion of extremely low temperatures, an arc rifle that shoots lightning like in those old science fiction novels, guns that fire buzz saws… Outlandish, and honestly useless to us"

"But do we have anything of use, doctor?"

"Obviously, yes. The energy weapons listed here, the ones listed under… Corpus, was it? Yes, Corpus. Regardless, they seem fairly simplistic and easier to make. It's all a matter of time for us".

"Time is the one thing we don't have, doctor. That Reach doesn't have" she replied, eyes still on the screen. "This information needs to be delivered not to save this planet, but Earth instead"

"Yes, well, we're doing our best here, I assure you" he replied, letting his gaze linger in the screen as well. "We're just trying to understand a technology that follows no known patterns when our own technology is so far ahead another path we can't see the way back, you know easy stuff"

"Doctor"

"Yes, yes, moving on… Related to the weapons is the modification units and arsenal storage that he utilizes. The former uses a type of crystalized program that can be transformed into physical components when introduced into weapons and related, altering their inner workings and capabilities. Things like larger ammo pools, faster rate of fire… But we've given up trying to understand it for now, this is an entirely different affair that I doubt could be adapted into our weapons". As Alken spoke, diagrams showcasing some of the modifications appeared, pointing to the affected internals of some guns or even a crude schematic of Umbra's body. "We haven't been able to access his storage units, but as far as we can tell, it definitely involves spatial manipulation, otherwise he wouldn't be able to fit everything inside it".

"What of the machines inhabiting the vessel? And the… Creature… That accompanied the Warframe when he arrived?"

"Ah, yes… I'll start with the machines" muttered the doctor, this time opening images of several small, hovering objects, alongside videos of the researchers and troops assigned to the vessel encountering and interacting with them.

If Mirallia's feelings hadn't been ripped apart and tossed into the void of space, she'd admit them to looking strangely… Adorable.

"Sentinels, apparently. Synthetic lifeforms, not unlike the Engineers employed by the Covenant but with an… Interesting level of intelligence and consciousness. They understand English and can recognize and respond to commands and inquiries, but complex communication seems beyond their capacity". Each picture of a Sentinel model was zoomed in and had text and data surrounding it, detailing key aspects or points of interest. "Each model is also tailor-made for a specific function, and little can be altered from them. They've been helpful enough to partake in tests, and the results are… Well, take a look".

A video overtook the screen, showing one of the base's firing ranges, with another scientist talking animatedly with a small red-and-black cube that bobbed and weaved at whatever he spoke. The cube then turned towards several targets lined up towards at the end of the range as all personnel bar one trooper backed away. Said trooper raised his weapon, an assault rifle, and opened fire at the targets, pelting the plastic human cutouts with bullets. Seconds after he began firing, the cube joined with its own weapon, every time aiming at the same target as the soldier. At intervals, the cube would lash out with a bright orange beam that bore through the plastic cutout, punching a hole the size of a cannonball at the target and burning the wall behind it.

The video was closed and replaced with another, a bird-eye view of a maze where a group of troopers walked carefully through the enclosed hallways, each one utilizing special goggles that Alken and Mirallia both knew were prototypes for allowing detection of cloaked targets, but seemed to have no luck. Suddenly, an alarm blared out, and the camera shifted to the end of the labyrinth, where a scientist materialized from thin air with an astounded look upon her face, with a small green, organic-looking creature with two long arms floating beside her shoulder.

Another file showed a vase-like construct reassembling sniper bullets into shotgun shells, and yet another showed a disgusting, cancerous creature staring at a group of soldiers that were being held back from seemingly leaping onto the small being, its single purple eye shifting from person to person as an orange glow bathed it, until it stopped and the soldiers immediately began to calm down.

"All of them showcased these abilities, and we've catalogued them extensively" finally spoke up the doctor, dismissing the videos and leaving only the pictures behind. This time, however, one new picture was added, that of a small robot with two large cylinders behind it. "There's also this one, apparently unrelated to Sentinels but based on them. They're harvesting drones meant to be deployed in any environment, and to procure a multitude of resources provided that the data is input on them. I believe I don't need to explain their usefulness, do I?"

"And the creature?" asked Mirallia in return, leaning forward with her fingers interlocked.

"That, I do not have answers for you"

"Doctor."

"I'm sorry, agent, but the truth is we can't get close to the creature to take tissue samples or related. The only reason we haven't been hunting it as a biological hazard is because data on the ship pointed to it _not_ being one, and so far it checks out" he spoke, arms crossed and staring defiantly at Mirallia. "And if the _rest_ of the data is correct, then I'd rather not chase after the animal that can tear any one of us in half with one move just so I can scrape a piece of it off". Both agent and doctor stared at one another with such intensity that sparks threatened to flare between them.

Duty against survival. How many times had such a thing happened?

Finally, Mirallia heaved a weary sigh and slunk back into her seat. "If this leads into consequences, doctor, you know what this will entail to us". To her surprise, however, the doctor let out a mirthless laugh and pulled up another video.

"Trust me, it will already". This time, the file was marked with a red-colored ONI sigil, and a warning that Mirallia recognized as something that marked a file as _extremely_ sensitive material. With the input of an overtly long password, the file unlocked, revealing a recording of the hallway with three doors that she had showed to Umbra before. The camera now was focusing on the door covered in cancerous growths, who seemed to twitch and sway even more erratically than before, with the camera's image apparently coming from the helmet of a trooper marked as Corporal A. Lance. Around him, other troopers held their rifles pointed at the ready, with three scientists fiddling with a large weapon-like device pointed at the door.

" _Doctor with all due respect, this is not a good decision_ " spoke the corporal, turning to face one of the scientists, a woman seemingly in her fifties and a gaunt expression.

" _And with all due respect, corporal, you are not the one who will decide_ " she replied almost spitefully, finally stepping away from the device as she tapped at a digital pad in her hands. " _This abomination shows a potential danger, and it is our duty to remove it. If you are too afraid of it, step aside_ ". And at that moment, Mirallia saw that the growths seemed to blister at her words. " _Ready the plasma torch, prepare to disinfect_ "

" _Yes ma'am_ " replied the other two scientists, a young man and woman, as they flicked a few switches on the device and stepped away. A blue light began glowing at the tip of the device as a low hum began to echo, until finally a green beam shot out onto the door.

There was a shrill scream, enough to make even Mirallia wince, and all hell broke loose.

Bladed tendrils shot out from the growths and wrapped around the device and squeezed it into a small metal cylinder, fuel rod fluid exploding out of it and coating the floor. Two more flew towards the two younger scientists. One wrapped around the man's neck and flung him away as he screamed, while the other grasped the woman's torso and slammed her against the wall.

" _WHAT THE FUCK!?_ " screamed the corporal, his own voice losing itself amidst the screams of his squad members and the roar of their guns as they fired at the door, yet to no avail. More tendrils slammed the troopers onto the floor and walls, flinging them like ragdolls even as they were pelted with bullets, brown flesh and black blood spraying all around.

And amidst the confusion, the doors opened and two arms with claws shot out towards the aged scientist, grasping her wrists and ankles, hoisting the screaming woman in the air before tearing her in two, drawing the halves through the door as it sealed shut. And as more troopers and scientists arrived in the scene, a voice thrummed amidst the halls and into the camera's microphone.

Ḽ̴̛̱̹͍̙̣̏͂̄̄̚̚͝͞͝Ĕ̖͔͇̙̩̪͑̀̽̐͝Ē̷̦̗̰̝̺̖̓̅͋̒̀̑͘͠ͅÈ̲̲̪̯̩̙̞͛̀͐̅́͡͞͠Ȩ̶̤̫̟̺̝͎́̈́͘̚̕͡E̞̜̱̦̙̿̓̊̂̽͜͢Ę̡̳̘̠̺͓̍̍̐̔̏̓̒͛̕͠E̴͇̲̟̗͎̦̼̓̇͂̓͆́̚̕E̢̢̢̧̻͓͐̎̋͂̿̀͂̓̈́͒E̷̺͕͈̼̪̅́̄̓͛̎͆́͢͜͢É̴̥͇̹̲͓̆̑̈́̈́͆͜͞Ẹ̢͇̱̝̞̬̲͙̈̄͋͗͒́̈́͛͡Ǎ̦̟͕͕̮̻̫͔̆͆͗͂̓̈́̌̏̓Ă̶͇̯͍̮̳̼͙̙̏̍̅͝Ā̶̡͎̻̖̦̟̦̦̄̎̋̕͡Â̴̡̪͇̖̮͉̭͇͉͂̉͂̈́̊A̵̪̟͇͕̼̘͚̽̽̔̅̈́͘͟À̸̝̩͈̪̙͛̍̃̅͘̕͘Ą͇͔͎̟͍͇̋̾̒̉̈͋̒̑͞Ạ̴̣̱͒̎̅̿͛͐͘͟ͅĂ̸̢̝̠̜͎̆̑̿̀͌͂͝À̸͚̦̜̙̣̠̗̀̾̾͑̂Ă͈̺̰͈͚͈͂̅͘̚V̴̨̨͖͇̭̘̟̓̒̄͆̏͋̋͡͡E͕̠͚̗̦͓̯͐͆̔̎̓̔͋͜É͇̮͖̙̜̯́͑̂̍͂Ē̴̡̧̺̞͙͚̪͑̉͆̎̋͞É̴̤̬̰̝̜̘̽̆͐͢͡E̗͇̝͓̭̙̼͌̏̀́͛̑̕͜͜È̶̢̱̪̗̝̩̂̒̌͟͝E̷̛̩͙͍̠̲̩͑͛̓͠ͅͅE̸̢̝̯̦͉̱͍̮͗͆͗̓̄͗̐̓̕È̵̢̡̜̹͍̰͇͙̦͑̓̒͝

The image froze as Alken paused the video and closed it, leaving a blank screen in its place, before turning towards Mirallia with a grim smirk. "The others are fine, mind you, seemed the thing only hated Doctor Cayne. They are all in the infirmary however, and the Sentinels have been keeping us away from that door at all moments, for obvious reasons".

Mirallia eyed the empty screen for what felt like an eternity, her mind racing with questions and possibilities. When she had questioned Umbra with the pictures of the Orbiter, she had done so as a hunch, a feeling that whatever was aboard the ship was quite dangerous. This only confirmed it.

She knew the ship had no AI aboard it the moment it set down when Mobius brute-forced entry and found no resistance. But there _was_ something inside. Alive.

And _extremely_ dangerous.

Her mind was brought back when Alken began speaking once more. "As for the other door… We're stumped. No access points, no visible or hidden mechanism, not even a key under the rug. The only thing we _do_ know about it is its age"

"… Its… Age?"

"Yes. The ship is eight thousand years old. _That_ door was made a year ago" he finished, pulling up analysis records of the ship itself and the door, and placing them side-by-side. "Far more potent material as well, with a density and resilience surpassing any known limit, even the hunk of metal beneath SWORD Base".

Mirallia stared at the surface of her table, unfocused as once more the questions began coming and going. And these she had no basis for speculations.

What sins were hidden behind those doors? And how terrible were they? More and more, Umbra drew their attention…

"What of its power source, doctor? What can you tell me about it?" she finally asked, raising her gaze once more to Alken. The man looked down at his pad once more, staring at it…

"… Sorry, agent, the… The what?"

… What?

"The power source of the vessel, doctor. The reactor, engine, whatever it is that grants it energy. What. Is it" she repeated, frustration building on her voice. The doctor stared down once more, mumbling something she could not hear as he stared at the pad in front of him. Mirallia was about to call him out once more, when suddenly Alken raised his head and stuffed his hand onto his pocket, pulling a folded piece of paper and opening it to stare far more intently. "Doctor Alken?"

It took another moment, and when the doctor looked back at her, there was… Something in his eyes. At the time, Mirallia took it as nervousness, or perhaps some of the craziness many had said the doctor had built due to the war or sheer stress of work.

Her answer would not come until the end of the fall of Reach.

Finally, the doctor began speaking once more. "… The power source… The… Power source… What is it… I wrote it down, I saw it… I analyzed it, witnessed it, did everything… So why…"

"… Moebius, analyze those papers. Now" she ordered. The AI's avatar blinked in response, and slid to the edge of the table, facing the papers on the frozen doctor's hands. It remained completely still, bar only a slight flutter in its image, before returning to next to Mirallia.

"… I cannot". That drew the agent's attention, her head turning to face the small hologram.

"What?"

"Attempts to perceive met failure. I fail to prove a negative, and instead behold absence"

"What are you talking about, Moebius?" she asked, finally standing up and ripping the paper off Alken's hands, staring at—

… At…

"You witness a color you never seen, you do not know. Describe it, remember it." continued the AI, its voice just as level as before, yet now she realized seemed to hold… Reverence. "Something moves, and touches me, within this infinite null". And as Mirallia stared at the—

… The…

"… You may leave now, doctor… Continue your work" she finally replied, returning the paper to him. The man seemed to snap from his daze, took the paper back with a quick nod and mumbled thanks, and walked towards the door as Moebius unlocked the room once more. Once the man was left, Mirallia sunk onto her seat, feeling something upon her nape.

A cold sweat.

… How?

…

… _tap… tap…_

**-O-**

In high orbit, away from the prying eyes and instruments on the UNSC, cloaked with technology gifted by their gods and adapted to their use, hovered a Covenant CSO-class supercarrier, the _Long Night of Solace_ , flagship and crown jewel of the Fleet of Valiant Prudence. Aboard it, millions of brave souls willing to fight and die for their Great Journey toiled in their assigned tasks, no matter how menial or tedious they be. They all knew of their fellow brothers down below on the planet, planning the battles that would end this heretic fortress they called Reach, and bring the Covenant one step closer to their final goal.

Yet three figures had their minds preoccupied with other affairs, as they stood inside a communication room awaiting the call from their masters. And it was not of humans, nor of their Demons, not even of the artifact of the gods that they heard rested below.

The Gauntlet of the Prophets. Three survivors of this war, and of the new threat that had been swept upon it.

The Haktuum. Or as the whispers echoed in the _Solace_ ' _s_ hold had christened him, the Archangel.

Sedo tinkered with the prosthetic arm that had been given to him, grunting in frustration as he prodded the servos with a tuning tool attempting to fine-tune them, only to have sparks fly off and the fingers clench tightly. With a frustrated roar, the Zealot tossed the tool away and smashed the prosthetic against his seat, the digits opening up once more.

[Calm yourself, brother] called out Rter from where he had been kneeling, head bowed down in meditation. [Take it to a Huragok if it troubles you that much, or you will end up one arm short yet again]

[And I suppose you will offer no assistance of your own, brother?] spat back the youngest, glaring daggers at his kin.

[I am a warrior and a trailblazer of the Prophets, Sedo. Not an engineer] replied the oldest as he stood up and turned a cold, emotionless stare at his fellow Zealot. [And neither are you. Do no waste the gift of the prophets with your own ignorance]. Bristling at those words, Sedo took a step towards his brother, but stopped when he heard the loud boom of someone stomping the floor

[Enough! Behave as proper Sangheili, the both of you!] roared Xevu, drawing the attention of both of his brothers. [Squabbles like these are unbecoming of warriors of our caliber!].

The three brothers stared at one another in a swirl of emotions, when suddenly they heard another sound approaching them.

The sound of clapping.

The three turned towards the direction of the sound, and saw a gold-clad Sangheili approach them, clapping and chuckling along the way.

[Truly, it seems the Gauntlet of the Prophets is as united as the Prophets themselves] spoke Fuma 'Hadamee as she approached, her jaws turned into what closest a Sangheili could reach to a smirk. [Or is it that your most recent failure has drove you mad at last?]. Sedo tried to rush the General, but was stopped by Xevu as his brother held him back with one arm.

[So speaks the one who failed to present any results of her hunts for the artifacts] replied Rter, walking to stand beside his brothers. [Is it true then, that the War Maiden is naught but a propaganda figure?].

If Fuma was angered by the statement, then she did not show it, merely scoffing in response. [Whatever results occurred at the human base were result of faulty intel. And I need not remind _who_ delivered said intel, do I?]

Before anything could escalate further, the room darkened around the four Sangheili, who kneeled upon the ground as a large blue hologram took form upon the middle, bathing the room in a ghostly glow as the figure finally towered over the gathered Elites.

[ _Rise, followers of the Great Journey_ ] spoke the High Prophet of Truth, waving his hand over the gathered warriors in a grandiose gesture. [ _The Hierarchs are most pleased with your actions, and your efforts in bringing our ascension ever closer_ ]

[We are only humble servants of the will of the Prophets, and the wishes of the Forerunners, sire] spoke Rter in his ever-placid tone, his head bowed in reverence. [And we spare no efforts to see our mission fulfilled].

[ _Indeed. And rest assured, far more trials await your future_ ] continued the San'Shyuum, his face betraying no emotion as each word seemed to drawl out of his mouth. [ _But your orders are not the only reason the High Council has called upon you… As I'm sure you are aware_ ]. And at those words were spoken, the three brothers felt a frigid chill run up their spines. Seeing no coming reply, the Prophet decided to continue instead. [ _I have received reports that the relic of the gods have yet to be found_ ]

[Yes, noble Prophet. But rest assured our forces still scour the planet in search of it] spoke up Fuma. A quiet huff sounded out from Sedo, low enough that Truth could not hear it, but the War Maiden once more simply ignored it. [We are so far limited to more covert deployments, but once we begin the full-scale assault, our operations may expand]

[ _While your zeal is welcome, War Maiden, we have agreed that your services shall be better employed in… Other fronts_ ]

[High Prophet…?]

[ _Here are your new standing orders. You will assume command of the Ardent Prayer and coordinate troop movements on the ground from aboard the vessel_ ] continued Truth, reclining forward in his antigrav-chair with fingers interlocked. [ _Your ground deployments are, until further notice, belayed_ ]. Fuma felt her frustration boil and threatening to spill forth into protests and cries of complaint, but her discipline and patience held her tongue.

[… As you command, High Prophet. It shall be done]

[ _Excellent_ ] he stated simply, before turning his gaze to the remaining three Sangheili. His gaze fell upon Sedo, or more specifically onto Sedo's prosthetic arm, before he focused instead on Xevu. [ _We have received reports of a… Creature, siding with the heretics. I assume these reports to be truthful_?]

[Yes, High Prophet] replied the Field Marshal. [The creature has aligned itself with the humans, and has shown itself to be a formidable opponent. I believe it is prudent we-]

[ _What you believe and what shall be done are very distinct paths, Field Marshal_ ], Truth interrupted quite quickly with annoyance. [ _Whatever information you possess of this abomination, you will catalog and forward to us and your Fleetmaster. Whatever devilry it wields, it shall not stand in our way, nor of our path towards the Great Journey. If you encounter the creature, strike it down in the name of the Forerunners. Are we clear?_ ]

[I… Yes, Prophet, as your will commands]

[ _Make it so. Your new orders are to redeploy to the northern hemisphere and strike against the research outposts the humans have situated there. Take what troops you require, and locate the relic of ours gods. Our ascension will not be stopped, no matter what demons or devils believe capable of standing in our way_ ]. And with that, the hologram dissipated into blue motes of light as the room once more lit up with the usual internal purple lighting.

Finally away from the judging eyes of the Prophet, Fuma growled in anger and stood up, stalking her way towards the hangars, but not before hitting her comm unit. [Oluhu, meet me on the dropship bay. We have our orders]. And as she strode away, the three brothers rose from the ground as well, made a quick prayer to their fore-bearers and to the Great Journey, and walked towards another corridor, readying themselves once more to battle.


	9. Chapter 9

The mountains of Reach were a majestic thing to both behold and experience. It was not uncommon for those in urban areas to take a week or month to traverse its rocky crags and scale its walls, to have a chance of seeing the horizon from atop the tallest peaks that humanity's bastion could offer. It was a serene sight, and a reminder of what the UEG and UNSC had managed to achieve throughout history.

But now, as two members of Noble Team and one temporary member creeped their way through short ledges as the twin moonlight shone above them, hearing the faint hum of passing Covenant aerial patrols, it was not the horizon that interested them. It was instead what had taken home up in Ménrót Peaks.

A Phantom dropship passed overhead, shining its search light to and fro as it patrolled the narrow passageways of the mountain for any sign of trespassers or unfortunate souls that stumbled upon their taken grounds. The alien vessel suddenly stopped on its travel, shining its spotlight at one of the natural walkways for a moment more, before lumbering away from sight.

And from behind one of the few rocks large enough to hide a large human, Jun rose from the ground and watched the Phantom until it disappeared from sight before turning to further back in the passage and making signaling his two squadmates to move forward as he carefully walked along the cliff edge. From further behind emerged Noble Six and Umbra from their own hiding spots, the two watching the edges as small pebbles tumbled down the eternal fall that was the mountainside and did their best to keep their footing. Above, in near silence, Zaktur followed, its chitin armor changing colors and melding with the surroundings for stealth.

"Recon Team Bravo reporting: Three, Six and Umbra in position" called out Jun into his radio as he stepped over a gap in the edge. "It's starting to get crowded up here, Kat."

_"Then we're closing in. Report any Covenant structures or devices. Direct action may be necessary"_

"Copy that"

Six and Umbra finally stepped away from the cliff edge and moved to stand beside Jun to watch a small Covenant scout party resting across a chasm from them, and not a moment later Zaktur trudged to stand beside its master, letting out quiet chirps as it eyed its intended prey. As soon as the radio clicked dead, Jun let out an amused snicker. "When Kat runs an op, direct action is always necessary". The sniper then reached into one of his pouches and pulled from it a large boxy magazine and passed it over to Six. "Here. You may need these. High velocity, armor-piercing. They'll take the hat off an Elite at two thousand yards. And they ain't cheap". The black-armored soldier took the offered gift and stashed it on his belt, then cast a glance at the Warframe standing quietly at their side, followed by Jun doing the same.

He still could not believe what he was holding.

**-O-**

" _A night op?"_

" _Correct"_

_Umbra kept his pace brisk as he walked beside Carter towards the take-off area for their Falcons. He would have taken his Liset, but unfortunately the craft's crude auto-pilot could not keep it safe from all enemy fire, and now it needed to remain behind on the Orbiter for repairs. At the very least, the Sentinels were still capable of performing those functions._

" _ONI and recon reported sightings of Covenant activity in the Viery Territory, inside the designated Dark Zone. Command wants us to go in and get a clear grasp of their forces, along with any additional intel we can provide" said Noble One as he tapped on his wrist-comm, finally stopping in front of a Kodiak APC. "You'll be going with Jun and Six to this, Kat will run mission control. This will be a covert op, so do your best to keep noise to a minimum". And with that, Carter jumped onto the Kodiak, and the vehicle's engine roared to life as it drove away from him._

_A covert deployment… A Tenno's most basic mission. How long had it been?_

_Still, this time it was not his usual environment. He'd have to consider his arsenal carefully so as to fit the parameters, instead of the usual approach the Tenno would have to… "Stealth"…_

_He remembered the advice a Rhino Operator once gave to him: "The enemy cannot raise an alarm if there's no one alive to hear it". Said advice had been given after the Rhino had emptied an entire clip of a Soma at a room chockfull of Grineer troops they had encountered midway through a data recovery mission._

_In fairness, sneaking around proved far easier when half the galleon's population was wiped out. And more work for the repopulation units, he supposed._

_But now, as he paced into his Orbiter, Umbra wondered what weapons he could take. The thought mixed with Helminth's furious cries of being attacked and defiled, images of the attack on the research team flashing as the Infestation shared its memories with him._

_In return, the sentient virus received only disapproval and disgust, even if laced with some acceptance. He had warned the UNSC that there were dangerous things aboard his ship, and in the end they discovered it in the worst possible way. Helminth also warned him of them trying to get through the door to the Chamber. Thankfully, no luck to them so far._

_Good. The only one who could open that door was himself, regardless… He made sure of that._

_Still, he'd warn the Sentinels to double their guard over this part of the ship. Helminth also assured him that as long as the humans kept themselves away from his grounds, they'd suffer no more reprieve, especially so that "he" was not disturbed._

_Still, back to the matter at hand… What weapons to take?_

_Umbra returned to his arsenal and opened the weapons storage, carefully browsing through the available weapons. Rifles, shotguns, pistols… No, they were too loud, and he doubted Suppress, Hush or Silent Battery would make the noise low enough._

… _Perhaps…_

_The Tenno dismissed the weapon racks and instead paced to his quarters, striding across the room until he was facing the shelves containing the several trinkets he had come to collect in his many journeys. Pushing aside the Ayatans and statues, he finally reached his desire object, and pulled it from further back before setting it atop the table._

_Even after all these years, he still dreaded it._

_It was a large, rectangular case, black and red in color with several carved markings upon it, shaped lives waves and claws. Several heavy clamps and locks kept it sealed, and written in the Orokin language, the words "Banished Sins" marked the front of the case. Atop it, a blood-colored sigil, one made to look like a jagged mask._

_Umbra stared at the sigil for what felt like an eternity, then began undoing the clamps and locks, each one clicking low as he undid their combinations and safeties, until finally the last one came undone, and the lid lifted to reveal the contents within._

… _How long had it been… And how much had it cost… To finally end it…_

_Minutes later, he had climbed aboard the Falcon alongside Six and Jun, now fully geared and ready, with Zaktur following shortly after as they departed to the mountains._

**-O-**

A pouch of small silver throwing knifes on both his thighs, secured tightly by magnetic straps.

A black and red scythe holstered on the left side of his back and seeming to exude a killing intent so powerful even Six and Jun had been worried staring at it.

And an equally black and red bow and arrow, held in his grasp, with the quiver on the right side of his back, a blade-tipped arrow already resting on the string, ready to be pulled.

Despair. Hate. Dread.

Ripped from the hands of a dead ghost in a charred battlefield littered with bodies and sins, he had sworn to lock away his tools, and let the memory of the specter that haunted all Tennos fade away to nothingness. Yet it seemed that in the end, they would find another purpose and another master here, in this new battlefield.

And yet they still felt so heavy in his grasp…

The others had expressed utter disbelief at the fact Umbra had come armed with a bow and arrow to the mission, with Jun being quite vocal at the thought of using something so, as he had put it, "obsolete".

He was convinced of the contrary quite fast when Umbra demonstrated the bow's strength and precision by hitting the topmost branch of a tree at almost three kilometers away.

He had also brought a Baza Prime submachinegun for close quarters battles, holstered in the back of his waist. It would be a good alternative, especially since it was silenced naturally. Whatever else they encountered, they'd improvise.

Umbra turned to Jun and caught the Spartans eyeing his weapon once more, only for the green-clad sniper to shrug in return. "I'll be in touch", he added quickly, then turned a boulder and began climbing it to the top. Six gave the Tenno a short nod and slid off the ledge to land on the ground below with a small thud, leaving Umbra and Zaktur alone once more. Umbra patted the animal's hide, and with a chirp of approval both jumped off the edge and landed beside the black-clad soldier.

Just as they landed, another Phantom flew by, this time shinning its search light directly where they had been standing a moment prior. All three crouched closer to the ground and waited for the dropship to pass, before Six carefully strode forward towards a rock arch, while Umbra pressed forward through another cliff edge, Zaktur following close by. They sneaked up a small incline, just in time to see Six drop an Elite Minor to the ground and drive his knife into the alien's throat, silencing them before it could even think of crying out. With an approving nod, he then turned to the ground below and saw three Unggoy sleeping amidst several containers, their feet twitching slightly. As his Charger moved towards one of the Grunts, Umbra drew back his arrow and aimed it at the other two sleeping beside one another, carefully lining up his shot with both their heads.

Nary a whistle sounded as the sleek metal projectile sailed through the air, and sliced cleanly through the necks of both Grunts, their bodies slumping where they sat as blood poured from the exposed vessels and insides as the now removed heads rolled away.

Quick, silent, effective. It seemed he had not lost his touch with bows yet.

The third Unggoy stirred in its sleep, yet would never have the chance of waking up. With a grace unthinkable of an animal, Zaktur charged the remaining Grunt and lashed out with its barbed talons, driving them through the small alien's torso, neck and head. The Unggoy barely twitched as it was hefted from the ground by the Charger's tentacles and tossed into the abyss, the faintest of blood splatters left as the only evidence. With all targets dead, Umbra took one step back and jumped onto the ground below, landing gracefully right in front of his targets and immediately running past the two kills alongside Zaktur as they rushed up to another cliff side, Jun and Six tailing them from above.

"Recon Bravo to Noble Two, stand by for contact report" called out Noble Three into the radio, just as Six and Umbra reached one another atop a taller hill.

" _Standing by to copy, over_ ".

Below them was a large human compound, with a concrete flooring and several buildings build onto the mountain and other more ramshackle shacks lining an outer ring, and upon the middle a turbine or fan of some kind.

And all around, Covenant forces.

Elites, Jackals and Grunts, all surrounding the area and keeping watch for any movement that would mean their discovery.

"We got eyes on multiple hostiles in the settlement. This what we're looking for, Kat?" asked Jun as he surveyed the area through the scope of his rifle.

" _Negative, too small, you're not in the dark zone yet_. _Engage at your own discretion, but keep moving_ "

"Copy that, Noble Three".

"Wait" called out Umbra, a hand raised in the air to draw the attention of the two Spartans. "They know not that we are here. We should keep it that way". Putting away Dread onto his back and drawing Hate instead, Umbra dashed towards the cliff walls and began sneaking towards the compound. Six watched him intently, before looking to his side towards the body of a dead militiaman and spotted a small metallic object beside him, with a faint blue light coming from a small glass display.

Carefully, Six picked up the Armor Module and slid it onto the slot upon his back. A few bars appeared on his HUD, followed by rapidly scrolling code and text, until finally the armor's OS indicated that the Active Camouflage was ready for use. Six activated said module, and the black-clad soldier disappeared from thin air, the only sign he had been there being the slight crunch of the grass and dirt beneath his boots.

As the invisible Spartan moved down to the ground level, walking like a ghost amidst the Covenant troops on the ground until he found his intended target: an Elite Major patrolling the far back of the compound, away from all other forces. Above him, another Major stood in a narrow walkway, watching the troops below with its arms crossed. And unfortunately for the Elite, such a position made him unaware of the Tenno standing above on the grain silo, holding a large black scythe in his grasp.

Umbra drew upon his Parazon, stabbed it into the silo and extended the energy rope until it piled in front of his feet. With the rope at the desired length, Umbra peered over the edge once more, readied himself…

And jumped.

He fell with nary a sound, feeling the wind rush past him as he closed the distance to his target, and before the Major could think of looking up, Umbra swung Hate from top to bottom, sliding the blade between the Elite's jaw and hooking him through the head. The Parazon's rope went taut just as the blade burst through the Sangheili's helmet, allowing Umbra to let the rubber band effect to bungee him back up, only carrying the corpse with him. The Tenno landed atop the silo once more and laid down the dead body gently, then pulled from his pouches several Despair knives.

On the ground below, Six creeped around the Sangheili, until finally the alien turned its back to him, and the Spartan sprung to action. Drawing both of his knives, Six stabbed the Major on the throat and abdomen, driving the blades through the thin gaps of armor. The alien let out a gurgle as it choked on its own blood, before having its body dragged away to be hidden behind a large pile of crates. Pulling the knifes out of the corpse, Six crouched and deactivated the cloak, letting the unit recharge once more to full capacity. A dull thud made his senses kick into full alert as he dared to peer around the boxes, just in time to see a Jackal drop dead with a long silver knife buried deep into its skull. Further away, a group of Grunts were killed by the same weapons, and two Rangers with arrows protruding from their helmets. Further away, a few bodies torn in two or missing heads.

Umbra dropped from above with nary a sound, walked to each body and began pulling the Despairs free, cleaning off the blood with a quick flick to the side. Further away, Zaktur walked out of one of the sheds carrying a mangled arm in its pincers, the animal caked in blood that seemed to simply be absorbed into its hide. The Tenno turned to the Spartan and gave him a quick nod as he holstered the recovered throwing blades and pulled out a gold and black submachinegun.

Even with all his training, Six was still surprised by how quiet the warrior could be. He and the other Spartan IIIs had spent years having a hellish training pounded onto them to earn their skills, and ever further years surviving the war to hone them into what they were now. And yet… Umbra made it seem so trivial.

But there was no jealousy in his thoughts, no inferiority or fear. It was simply a fact. Perhaps, this was the result of fighting an eternal war for hundreds of years.

Of what Spartans would have been, perhaps, if humanity had a better shot against the Covenant.

" _Can't believe you three took all the fun_ " chuckled Jun in the radio. " _I can shoot just as well, you know_ ". The green sniper gave them a quick signal before sliding down to the ground as well as all four gathered and headed further into the compound. They entered a service garage, quickly crossing the single hallway and stepping over the corpse of two more militiamen laying on the ground. Right as they were passing a window however, all three stopped and crouched, Zaktur letting out a very low growl as it lowered itself to the floor.

Their radar and motion detector marked several hostiles on the other side, with several on higher ground. Even if one of them could cloak, and two others could maneuver the walls like nothing, they would be spotted by one of the survivors. And that would mean alerting the rest of the Covenant of their presence.

"Got any plans?" whispered Jun to Six as he adjusted the grip on his sniper rifle. Six looked back for one moment, then re-engaged his cloak before quickly standing up to survey whatever he could. Out of the corner of his vision, he saw an Elite Major turning towards him, and quickly crouched back behind the wall, deactivating the cloak once he was out of sight.

"Several Elites, some Jackals and Grunts. They got a plasma turret up above" listed off the Spartan. "Unless we can silence them all at once, they'll croak".

"I can handle this" spoke up Umbra once more. "I just need a signal of when they are clustered". Six nodded and waited for the cloak to recharge. Once it was full, the Spartan disappeared once more and stood up to watch the window. The seconds ticked by, Umbra's muscles tensing as he readied himself to dash, until…

"Go"

Without a word, Umbra exploded forward, holding the Baza in one hand as he drew the void energies out from his body. Blue light began flaring around his limbs as he jumped up into the railings and scaled the tower ahead. He heard growls of surprise from the Elites, but that did not stop him until he finally reached the summit, reared his head back, and let out a piercing roar into the night.

This time, with his mind clear and aware of all around him, the Radial Howl did not affect Six and Jun, even if the sound itself reached their ears. The same could not be said of the Covenant forces, however, who all recoiled from the assault on their senses, with two Elites even missing their steps atop the building roofs and falling to the ground below in a daze. With the first half of his plan accomplished, Umbra drew further power into his hand, forming once more the Radial Javelins around him, and launching them out at the staggered aliens.

With no defense against the ethereal blades, the aliens had their life extinguished in a the span that it took them to draw their last breath, before their lifeless bodies were tossed into the walls, with not a single drop of blood to show for injuries, and all in a span of seconds.

Six and Jun ran out of the garage and dashed around the area, checking for any enemy that might have survived the assault. One or two Elites had clung on to the dredges of their lives, but those were quickly ended by the two Spartans. Zaktur, meanwhile, wrapped the bodies with his tendrils and piled them inside another garage, hiding them all behind a forklift and some toppled crates.

With their duty done, the Spartans headed to the exit of the compound, joined moments later by Umbra as he jumped down from the silo and Zaktur walked out of the garage.

"Well, at least we're still under the radar" said Jun, looking back at the garage where their kills had been pilled. "They're bound to send search parties, though. We need to hurry".

" _Agreed_ " called out Kat into their comms." _Continue through the trail, there's more areas with possible Covenant activity_ "

"Copy that, let's move".

**-O-**

The path had been fairly linear, with a natural road leading into the mountain between two walls of stone. Surprisingly, there had been no more Covenant in any place, even though there had been communication nodes and supply boxes along the path. And no signs of them being abandoned as well, considering their good conditions and lack of disturbance.

Umbra adjusted the grip on Dread as he ran, his eyes darting to every corner looking for a possible ambush or deception by the aliens, when suddenly the air was filled with a guttural, animalistic roar. The Tenno and two Nobles stopped dead on their tracks and begun scanning the surroundings, weapons raised and ready to fire, but all that came were further sounds of roaring, followed by discharge of plasma fire somewhere further ahead.

All four of them dashed towards the source of the noise, hearing it grow louder with every step and be joined by panicked cries and screams that they recognized as coming from Grunts and Jackals. And as they finally arrived at a large boulder-ridden clearing and took cover behind a few rocks at the entrance to the area, both Nobles, Umbra and Zaktur saw the very appropriate cause for the commotion.

Amidst the rocks were two massive animals, tossing around Covenant troops like toys and tearing chunks of soil and stone as they swiped at the aliens still on the ground. They were absurdly tall, easily twenty feet tall, reassembling a gorilla with leathery skin, a stub of a tail, massive claws and two long tusks in each side of their heads. Plasma washed over their hides with every shot fired by the beleaguered Covenant still trying to stand their ground, yet the giant animals remained unfazed by the burning bolts that stung them from near every direction as they plowed through the invaders.

"Look at that…" mused Jun as he peered over the edge, watching the native fauna be just as effective against the Covenant as they were. "Kat, you picking any of this up?"

" _Affirmative, Recon Bravo. It's an indigenous creature, called Gúta_ "

"And they're in our way…"

"We could try going around them" spoke up Six, peering through the scope of his sniper as one of the Gúta lifted a Jackal up and smashed the bird alien against a boulder, splattering the rock with purple blood. "Too much of a waste of ammo to fight them"

"Alright. Lead the way then" replied Noble Three. Six carefully walked out from behind the rock, turned once more to make sure both animals and Covenant were occupied with one another, then gave the others the sign to follow. As quietly as they could, the other three squad members trailed behind, shuffling as fast as they could from boulder to boulder around the clearing. Halfway through, they realized the sounds of battle had died down, and stopped to check once more on the Gúta.

One of the animals was laying on the floor, injured but alive, with a large hole on the side of its abdomen where a plasma grenade had seemed to go off. The other was still standing, holding a headless Grunt in its grasp and covered in blue and purple blood. With a snarl, the animal reared its arm back and tossed the corpse away…

Right onto the exposed soldiers.

The Gúta took one moment to realize something was still alive around it, and bellowed another roar at its new targets, pounding its claws onto the ground before charging straight at them. With no other choice, Six and Jun raised their snipers…

But stopped their fingers an inch away from the triggers as Zaktur blurred past them, letting out a shrill roar as the Charger dashed towards the Gúta. The towering beast swung its arms forward ready to gore the smaller opponent in an instant, only to miss as the Charger seemed to break its spine into pieces and slid underneath the Gúta's attack, then sprung forward like a snake towards the larger animal's throat. Zaktur sunk his pincers into the leathery skin, piercing it and drawing blood from the wound, and the Gúta roared in pain. In pure rage, it grasped Zaktur's leg and pulled, uncaring of the tearing flesh and hide that came loose alongside the Charger when the pincers remained closed around its throat, and with a single move, tore off Zaktur's hind legs.

Uncaring of his lost limbs, the Charger released several of his tendrils and twisted them together until they formed a crude mace covered in thorns, then drove it straight into the Gúta's shoulder, spinning it like a drill until it came out the other side. The Gúta roared in pain, letting go of Zaktur and letting the smaller animal fall to the floor as it stumbled back, before turning to glare at its opponent, but stopped when it saw the half-torn dog still up on its fore legs, tendrils hovering menacingly in the air. Zaktur let out another shrill roar, flaring every single part of its body and forming more spikes around itself, even as black blood pooled beneath it.

And to the surprise of both Spartans, the Gúta was actually taken aback by the display, pacing away and back towards its mate, before curling protectively around its injured kin. Seemingly satisfied with the results, Zaktur limped back to the Spartans and his master, trailing blood all the way. Once it was right in front of them, the Charger bucked its body upwards, and with a sickening squelch, grew back both of its hind legs, both limbs erupting from the ragged stumps like cancerous growths before forming into their proper shapes once more. Zaktur gave a cheerful chirp and moved beside Umbra, allowing the Tenno to caress its head once more.

Six and Jun… Simply stared.

"… I should be surprised by this, I really should…" muttered the resident sniper, who then took off once more away from the clearing. The black-clad Spartan merely gazed a moment more at the Charger before following his teammate, followed closely by Umbra and Zaktur. "There's a trail up ahead through the rocks. Let's take it".

**-O-**

From above, hidden thanks to her own active cloak, a white-armored Spec Ops Sangheili peered through the scope of her Focus Rifle as the Devils, the Archangel and their hound dashed away from the battleground.

[They are on the move… Yes. Alert signals were sent to the garrison. We've redirected the dropships sent to investigate… Understood. Returning to the _Ardent Prayer_ ]

And so, the Sangheilli disappeared into the night, leaving only a faint tremble in the air to indicate she had been present.

**-O-**

"Get ready… Go, go!"

James Phillips ran like his life depended on it as soon as his fireteam leader gave the order.

Scratch that. His life _did_ depend on it.

Because he only had a standard-issue Magnum for a weapon in the middle of territory taken by the fucking Covies.

He and the other four members of his fireteam had returned to the mountains, however, alongside any Colonial Militia troopers that had been patriotic enough to try their hands at a suicide mission inside a dark zone controlled by Covenant forces, that no one had previously returned from. Well, the territory was one reason.

The other was to secure their stashes upon the mountains to better fight back.

And so here they were, sneaking into a pumping station at the edge of the river to find their hidden weapons and praying to whatever God they had left for the Covenant to _not_ show up.

"All clear so far, sarge. No sign of any aliens" whispered Tyson from further ahead as he surveyed the surroundings with his gun.

"Keep your head down and keep moving, Green", replied Sergeant Opdahl, his expression hardened. "In and out, before the damn Covies show up".

The fireteam continued their path until they entered one of the many buildings surrounding the station, grimly looking at the dead bodies of the area's workers that had been left behind in pools of their own blood. Two minutes later, they had swept the area of any signs of hostiles, and the men took to work.

From beneath tables, inside fake walls or tubing, even buried in the shore, the militiamen unearthed their hidden arms and equipment. They hefted the hermetically-sealed electronic cases to the patio of the station and placed them side by side until they had a good pile staring back at them. Opdahl moved away from them and hovered a security chit over a few of the crates before a short confirmation sound beeped and the covers opened, revealing their contents to the gathered soldiers. "Gear up, all of you. We're gonna need the firepower".

Two of his teammates, Mark and Andy, took assault rifles from the crates, along with a few grenades. Tyson grabbed a DMR and an SMG, quickly holstering both, while Opdahl took a sniper rifle and another pistol for himself. As for himself, James eyed the one weapon he knew he could handle better than anyone else in the team: a M319 Individual Grenade Launcher.

Philips hoisted the weapon into his hands, feeling the hefty and familiar weight with a saddened smile. Just then, out of the corner of his eye, James saw another weapon he had not seen in a long time. Placing the grenade launcher on his back, the militiaman took hold of the M739 Light Machine Gun resting upon one of the cases and placed a fresh drum magazine onto the weapon. The private turned around to speak with his sergeant, when suddenly he caught something a few steps away from them. Something… Flickeri-!

"SHIT, DOWN!"

James raised his LMG and pointed it at the space behind his leader—

_FWIP_

"FUCKING HELL!"

"CHRIST!"

When a black blur shot through the space he had taken aim at, revealing and decapitating a cloaked Elite that had sneaked behind the fireteam, the black figure tumbling to the floor with a dull thud as its head rolled away and blood pooled onto the ground. The militiamen all stared at the dead body until finally, Tyson walked forward and pulled the projectile from the ground. It was…

… An arrow…?

"What the fuck…" muttered the trooper, turning the blade-tipped arrow around in his hand. Opdahl stared at the dead body for a moment more, then raised his sniper and peered through the scope in a rough estimate of where the arrow had been shot, carefully surveying the area until finally, he caught sight of the… Responsible party.

"Eyes up, you all. We got company".

**-O-**

Umbra climbed down the rocks carefully alongside Jun, Six and Zaktur as they made their way to the pumping station below, an arrow still readied as they approached the militia troopers, the five men watching hesitantly the leather-clad warrior and his companion, their weapons twitching slightly in their direction. Jun was quick to take charge of the situation, however, and stepped ahead of the Tenno. "What are you doing here? Whole area's supposed to be evacuated".

"Didn't like leaving it to someone else to protect our home" spoke up Opdahl, taking front and center in his team. The almost caustic glare he directed to Noble Three was not missed either. "So we came back for these. We have 'em hidden all over the territory". Just as the sergeant motioned to the cases behind him with his sniper, Six shouldered his way past them and took a M41 SPNKR rocket launcher in his hands, showing it to Jun before putting it back and moving to another case.

"You know this stuff is stolen?" asked Noble Three.

"What? You gonna arrest us?"

"No. Gonna steal it back"

The sergeant made to retort, but stopped himself when Zaktur turned his head towards the mountains, his small ears twitching slightly before letting out a quick chirp. Umbra turned to the Charger, then towards the same direction, pulling another arrow from his quiver. "We have incoming".

"Shit! Everyone into cover, now!". The gathered forces quickly ran into the buildings, Zaktur wrapping the dead Elite in his tendrils before dragging it alongside itself into the river. Umbra found himself sharing a hiding spot with two other militiamen, the troopers sweating waterfalls as they nervously peered through a window as two Phantoms descended onto the station, shining their searchlights onto every nook and cranny they saw fit. On the exit ramps, Grunts swiveled the plasma turrets to and fro, eagerly looking for targets to decimate. One of the beams of light washed over the window Umbra and the two troopers were hiding, the man barely managing to lower himself to the ground before his shadow betrayed his hiding spot. One of the gunners, however, noticed all the stacked cases and with a gleeful cry, turned its turret towards them. Plasma bolts struck the polymer storage units over and over until they reached the weapons inside, and when a few bolts struck the stored ammunition, the results were predictably explosive. And at once, dozens of recovered arms became nothing more than molten metal and plastic as a massive fireball shot upwards, the gunner Grunts cheering in happiness at in their minds they called "The Big Boom". The roar of their commanding Sangheilli cut their celebration short, however, and the two waddled back into the Phantom just as the dropships took off and left once more.

Once the sound of their engines had disappeared, the hidden human forces, Tenno and Charger left their hiding place, gathering where once had been the collected weapons. Opdahl stared at the burning pyre solemnly, before facing the Nobles once more. "I don't suppose you would need some help in whatever mission you got, would you Spartan?"

"Sergeant, what are you-?!"

"We accomplished our objective, private, even if it ended up being for nothing" he almost snarled back, before letting out a weary sigh. "Right now, our best chance is linking up. So… What do you say?".

Jun gave the man a long look before turning his gaze to each militiamen, before turning back to the sergeant. "That depends. You know anything of what's ahead?"

"Some of our scouts reported that the aliens got some kind of structure ahead, in the occupied hydro-electric plant". The sergeant waved with his gun away from them, towards a small path leading to a large metal gate. "The road leads there, but the gate's fried"

"Alternate route?"

"We use the riverbed to smuggle rations, weapons…" trailed away the sergeant, his voice going quieter as he listed off the items.

"Basically anything the UNSC considers contraband" added Noble Three with a hint of edge in his voice.

"Basically"

"Show us"

**-O-**

Far away, in the northern hemisphere of reach, a convoy of Phantoms sped through the stormy skies of the Hévíz territory. Thunder split the skies in two and lit the clouds around them as the Special Ops unit of Sangheilli, Unggoy, Jiralhanae and T'vaoans performed last checks on weapons and equipment before their mission.

Their scouts had reported unusual activity and readings around this area, and the signal had been strongest near a human station, a so-called Tiltott Tudás Excavation Outpost. The Gauntlet of the Prophets had hand-picked them for this mission, since they had been called upon to pacify some particularly stubborn human cells blocking Covenant advances in another site where Forerunner artifacts had been suspected to be.

And yet regardless of it, they would accomplish the mission, nonetheless. Their large-scale deployments had already been delayed to allow for these covert insertions. To fail would be to shame the entirety of the Covenant forces besieging this planet.

[Officer 'Saramee, we're approaching the human outpost] called out one of the Unggoy that composed his file, tapping away at a small hand-held data slab. "We'll be arriving in less than a fifth of a unit]

[Understood. All of you, ready your weapons and prepare for deployment] barked back the SpecOps Officer as he took hold of his carbine and re-checked its power cell for the umpteenth time since their travel had started. The Sangheilli heard a chuckle from behind him, and turned to see a Jiralhanae Stalker holding a Mauler and Spiker in his hands.

[Nervous, little one?] asked the large furred warrior, his eyes hidden beneath the red cyclops helmet. [Perhaps scared that the humans may stop us?]

[Never] replied the Sangheilli with a snarl. [They are weak, and will fall before our fury]. At that, the Stalker let out a bellowing laugh before slapping the smaller officer on his back.

[That's the spirit, tiny one! Maybe you'll end up close to killing as many as me!]. And with that, the ape left to the back of the dropship, his Spiker slung over his shoulder. Growling in frustration, 'Saramee simply turned the other way and walked towards the cockpit. The pilot, another of his kind, glanced back momentarily before turning back to face the storm-ridden skies.

[How far now?]

[We're making descent now, Officer] replied the pilot as he carefully manipulated the controls. [The outpost should be visible at any moment]

[Detection possibility?]

[Jammers and cloak are activated. We are ghosts in the skies]

The officer nodded approvingly then turned to the view ahead as well, seeing the black clouds rush past them like a blur as they descended back to the earth below. Not a moment later, the clouds gave way to clear air, and below them, the research station—

[What in the gods…] muttered the pilot, leaning forward in his seat and increasing the zoom of the images of the outpost, leaving clear the—

'Saramee leaned forward as well, if only to look at the image better. And he felt the cold shiver run up his spine. [… Prophets… What… Did we find?]

[… Your orders, officer?]

[…Set us down]

[Very well]


	10. Chapter 10

"How many?"

"Count… Three… Scratch that, four, another one just showed up"

"Grunts?"

"Sixteen or so. Got a couple of snipers up top too"

"Damn… Lot of security there…"

Opdahl heaved a sigh as Tyson laid prone on the grass and peered through the scope of his DMR, the sergeant doing the same from his sniper rifle while propped against a large boulder. Below them, across a chasm and connected by a single bridge wide in the open, was the hydro-electric responsible for supplying power to almost the entire mountain.

Normally staffed with a number of technicians from the big cities or the mountain villages.

Now, crawling with Covenant soldiers. The many plasma burns and bullet holes on the walls and floor were answer enough of what happened to the previous occupants.

Turret emplacements and weapon racks had been scattered throughout the area, with Grunts and Jackals patrolling in groups through the courtyard. Just outside of the courtyard, a massive purple pylon stood ominously, casting an ethereal purple aura into the air. And from time to time, even Banshee fighters would pass overhead, their wailing engines echoing against the mountainside just as their namesake would suggest. The sound of another engine drew the militiamen's attention, and both of them shifted their scopes up to see a Phantom fly over the plant before setting down close to the pylon, offloading from its transport bay a Hunter pair before flying away, the massive aliens lumbering further into amidst the buildings.

"… Well, I'm open to suggestions, sarge" spoke up Tyson as he put away his DMR and glanced over at Opdahl. The sergeant pulled away from the boulder and let his sniper droop in his arms, heaving a long sigh before moving away and sliding down to join the rest of his team, followed a moment later by Tyson. Below them, sitting in a small circle while tending to their weapons were the remaining members of the squad, alongside their new temporary ally.

Kneeling upon the ground with his legs tucked underneath his body and head bowed, Umbra did something all Tenno grew used to: he waited. Even when the sergeant and his trooper finally joined the group and sat down alongside them all, he remained quiet, until finally he raised his head and placed his void pouch on the ground in front of himself, alongside a small disk-shaped device. With a press of a button, said disk lit up around the edges and center, and a crude hologram of Nobles Two, Three and Six sprang to life.

" _What's the status of the plant?_ " asked Kat.

"Covenant have the place under lock and key. It's swarming with troops, work crew most likely KIA" spoke up Opdahl, which only earned grimaces and muttered curses from his team. "Most of them are centered around that pylon, so we can assume it's causing the dark zone"

" _We scouted the cliffs ahead, plenty of activity too_ " said Jun, his voice barely above a whisper. " _Lot of turret emplacements and comm nodes. Whatever they're hiding, they wanna keep it that way_ "

"Want us to get rid of the pylon?"

" _Negative. If we take it out now, the Covenant find out we're here, and Command wants to keep it that way for as long as possible"_ replied Noble Two. " _We'll set up a trap, instead_ "

" _What you got in mind, Two?"_

" _Plant a det-charge on it. When Command starts its op, they'll give us the signal to destroy it_ "

"Easier said than done" spoke up Tyson with a grimace. "Place's crawling with troops, there's no way we can get close to that"

"I can do it"

The militia squad all turned to face the Tenno when he finally spoke up, the swordsman staring intently at the three holograms. He then turned to Opdahl and gave him a short nod. "I can do it. But I'll require assistance"

" _What's your plan?_ ". Umbra reached into his void pouch and began withdrawing several small circular discs from it, placing them gently upon the ground side by side, then finally his stimulant injector, loaded not with the blue Calcifin vials, but with ones loaded with a deep crimson liquid. He set down the stim unit and took one of the discs between his fingers, turning it around for the militiamen to see.

"This is a deployable remote camera, standard Tenno construction. Adheres to any surface, undetectable by instruments and with limited optic cloaking. It can transmit on a radius of six hundred meters with high quality images, and at a difficult to trace frequency"

" _Sounds like fancy tech_ " chuckled Jun, followed quickly by the sound of shifting soil and of passing steps.

"It is an easily-accessible market product in the Origin system". Ignoring the surprised looks that the troopers were giving him, he then placed the disc back in the ground and took up the stim injector. "This is Refractin, a far more refined version of the Refract compound used by Tenno. It coats the user with an organic membrane that refracts all light, rendering whoever is injected completely invisible for four minutes."

"So what, you'll just waltz in and plant the bomb?" asked Private Philips sarcastically as he inspected his LMG for the fifth time now.

"No. For that I'll require your assistance". Umbra ignored the confused stares the humans gave him and instead simply set down the injector before continuing. "Refractin is longer lasting and far more effective than its original version, but with one flaw: It renders the user completely blind. They will not be seen, but cannot see in return, and the other senses are dulled as well… But not completely". And it seemed Noble Two was the first to follow his train of thought.

" _So you go in invisible, and they guide you through the cameras to plant the bomb_ "

"Precisely"

" _How will they track you?_ "

"The cameras can be programmed to mark my position and direction. All I need is guidance"

"… _Can you do it?_ "

"Yes"

A moment of silence passed, until Opdahl heaved out a sigh. "Well, guess we're doing this, then. How are we placing the cameras?".

Without a word, Umbra took one of the cameras and a data pad from one of the troopers, quickly linking both together. He then stood up, facing one of the cliffs surrounding them, and with one fluid motion threw the small disc all the way up to the wall. A moment later, the data pad beeped, and on its screen was a far-off view of the group, with a blue outline around Umbra and green ones for the troopers.

"… Fair enough. Though honestly, your job would be easier if we had a distraction of some kind…"

"… _Leave that to me_ "

**-O-**

Six placed his sniper onto his back as he carefully made his way forward while crouched. Right beside him, Zaktur crawled along just as stealthily, easily keeping pace with the Spartan as they moved through the undergrowth.

After a few scant minutes of trekking, Six and Zaktur finally reached their destination, a massive depression, with a single large corridor leading into it. Inside of the hole were only boulders and dirt…

And gúta. Dozens and dozens of gúta, all pacing impatiently and snarling at one another. Six saw them tossing around torn pieces of Covenant bodies or fighting over them, with one even carving out chunks of a Hunter's back as it fed on the worm flesh. Six scanned the gathered animals, and his eyes quickly fell upon one gúta in particular sitting in the middle of the pack… With one arm missing.

"He's here, do it" whispered Six to the Charger beside him. With a nod, the animal crawled to the edge of the crater and once there, reared its head back and let out a shrill scream that echoed like an explosion down on the gúta's grounds. The animals bellowed in return, grasping their heads in pain and stumbling against one another as chaos broke out.

And amidst the chaos, the one-armed gúta spun around looking for the source of the noise, pushing aside any of its pack mates that bumped into it, until it finally peered upwards and saw the unmistakable shape of the Helminth Charger glaring down, flaring its pincers and tentacles in defiance.

Within its primitive, survival-tailored mind, the gúta felt one emotion flood its limited thought processes, one that came to as it looked at the enemy that had made it be challenged by all other males of the mountain.

Rage.

Smashing its arm onto the ground, the gúta let out the loudest roar its lungs could muster, drawing the attention of every surrounding kin around it, and making them follow its line of sight to stare at Zaktur above them. The one-armed animal took one boulder beside it and threw it with all its might like a trebuchet at the Charger, who swiftly jumped back to avoid the projectile that smashed its perch apart. Zaktur ran back to Six, and both quickly took off towards the cliffside the Covenant had set up.

And behind the two, barreling like a tide of leather and fury, a gúta pack hell-bent on killing them.

**-O-**

" _They're on the move"_

" _Roger that. Umbra?_ "

The Tenno did not reply, instead peering over the edge of the cliff that he hung from. And indeed, the aliens had stopped and looked around to the mountains as the roars began growing closer, followed soon by the sound of plasma fire not too long after. One of the Elites, an Ultra, raised a hand to its helmet and tapped the side of it, and a moment later began barking orders to its troops. Grunts, Jackals and three Elites rushed forward away from the plant, the two Hunters stomping right behind them, with some even leaving the pylon to join. Soon, the security force had been reduced to only three Elites and a handful of Grunts and Jackals, all of them sparsely spread.

Perfect.

"Beginning mission".

He unholstered the injector from his waist, pressed it against his neck and pulled the trigger. As soon as he felt the chemical being to burn through his veins and arteries, Umbra hoisted himself over the edge and back-flipped onto solid ground right as his skin began secreting a glass-like substance, and in scant seconds, Umbra disappeared from the world.

And the world disappeared to him.

Blackness, it was all that surrounded him. He strained his ears for any sound of the wind, yet it was so faint. His feet touched the ground, but it felt distant. And all around, nothing. All he could see was—

— _a void of gold and black, ghosts of islands hovering past in completely serenity. Above him, a tree of gold and silver, dust of the same colors raining around as petals fell onto the pitch-black stone that comprised his own island. Kneeling on the ground, clawing at his head as he tore off pieces of ashen-black armor, he spasmed and twitched, feeling the memories._

_And around him, he died._

_Over and over, hands twisted by the Infestation clawed at his flesh and drenched the ground with blood as red as the roses she had gifted so many times. A voice, young and full of life, whispered pleads at the animal that tore at it with crazed ferocity._

_A form, resplendent in gold and azure, gazing down proudly and cruelly at the work he had so masterfully crafted, and the game he had twisted to his advantage._

_Over and over, this scene repeated infinitely in the void, from different perspectives but always with the same pattern and end._

_Too much… Too much… My fault…_

_**He felt a hand on his cheek.** _

— _bra! Can you hear me?!"_

The Tenno gasped for air, his footing still solid as he drew in breath after breath of life-giving oxygen. His mind did not register how much shorter they felt with dulled senses, only that the oxygen had gone inside him. He shifted his foot slightly and looked around.

Blackness. Complete blackness.

… Good.

"I… I am here"

" _Finally… You just stopped moving all of a sudden and started jittering. What happened?"_

"A side effect of the Refractin. Sensory deprivation led to an intense readjustment period. I had forgotten about it"

The lie had come too fast to mind, and faster still out of his lips. The smallest tinge of regret came to mind, but was quickly smothered.

" _Alright then. You ready for this?_ ". The voice was garbled, muted, and he could not tell who was speaking. But he could at least understand it.

"Yes"

" _Okay, let's do this. Camera feed up… Good, I have your position. Alright, twenty steps forward_ "

Umbra inhaled deeply once more, exhaled, and stared at the blackness ahead.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen. Fourteen. Fifteen—

" _STOP!"_

He did.

" _Two Jackals, right in front of you. Turn to the left forty degrees, wait for our signal_ ".

…

…

" _They're gone… Now, twelve steps forward"_

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve.

" _Turn fifty degrees left, twenty four steps"_

Fifty degrees left.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen. Fourteen. Fifteen. Sixteen. Seventeen. Eighteen. Nineteen. Twenty. Twenty-one. Twenty-two. Twenty-three. Twenty-four.

" _Okay, you're just short of the pylon. Next, take…! Shit! JUMP BACK!"_

Umbra threw himself back, feeling his heel skirt the edge of the cliff and send pebbles tumbling into the abyss. His body stilled, and the Tenno held his breath.

" _Listen very. Closely. That Ultra is standing right in front of you. Do not move a muscle. We'll try to get his attention"_

…

…

"… _Go, go, now!"_

Umbra dashed forward, uncaring of the distance, until finally he felt his feet change from touching soft soil to cold metal. With another step, Umbra felt his body be pulled up, as if tugged by invisible strings, then tossed back once more into the cold metal.

" _Fuck, that was close… You alright?_ "

"Yes. The stimulant will lose effect soon, however"

" _Then let's get to work. You're standing on the pylon platform right now, above you is the emitter. You need to plant the bomb in the main power conduit, make sure it's properly hidden from scanners. Climb up the pylon and get close to the emitter, we'll guide you through the process"_.

Umbra reached forward and felt a faint cool sensation on his fingers, and sliding his hands up confirmed that it was a metal support he has touching. Heaving himself up, the Tenno slid up the metal bar until his outstretched arm touched yet another cold surface, this one flat and wider. Umbra climbed onto it, digging his fingers onto the small panel linings he could feel for support, until finally he reached the edge on the other side, changing himself to a seated position. "Am I in the right position?"

" _Checking… Ah, dammit"_

"What is it?"

" _That Ultra we mentioned? We detonated one of the cameras to get his attention, but did it on impulse. We blasted the one facing the pylon, we're blind to it"_

"Soldier, the stim will only last one minute and a half more"

" _I know, dammit, let me think!... James, what the hell-?!"_

" _Give me the rifle, sarge"_

"Private Philips?"

" _Give me a moment… There, got it. I can see you"_

" _James what did you—"_

" _I wired a camera into the scope, I can see your position"_

"Guide me then"

" _Reach forward five centimeters up, two centimeters right"._ Umbra did so, and indeed felt his fingers touch a deep groove, barely wide enough for the tip of his fingers. Reaching into the pouch on his side, Umbra drew a Despair knife and slid it into the groove, the mono-filament blade easily piercing the metal alloy, sliding up and down before twisting the knife to the side. He felt the panel bend outwards, and he hoped with no sound loud enough to draw attention. Umbra holstered the knife and withdrew instead the detonation charge given to him by Jun. "Forty seconds, Private"

" _Alright I can see the power lines… Arm the bomb first. Touch the keyboard until you feel the corner"_

"… Done"

" _Two to the right, and press. From there two down and one to the left, press. One up and one to the left, press. Then two down and press"_

Two to the right, press… Two down, one to the left, press… One up, one left, press… Two down, press…

"Done. Twenty seconds"

" _Four centimeters forward, eight up, then two left. There's enough space for the bomb there. Hurry"_

As quickly as he could, Umbra took the explosive and followed the directions given to him, feeling the det charge push against a solid but malleable obstacle before guiding it to the desired spot. Quickly making sure it was stuck in place, Umbra pulled his hands back, pushed the plating back into place and pushed himself off, bullet jumping off of the pylon just as the reflective film around his body melted off and dissolved while still in the air as he fell into the chasm splitting the mountain in two. Just as he passed the edge, Umbra summoned his Parazon and shot it at the bridge, burying the blade deep into the concrete before swinging towards the mountainside further away.

As he flew through the air, Umbra drew Hate from his waist, and just as he was to hit the wall, swung the scythe forward and buried it into the rock, sliding briefly down before coming to a halt abruptly. His grip held however, and Umbra quickly hoisted himself up to grasp at the rock wall itself before looking at the pylon he had left behind. "Mission accomplished. Explosive has been set"

" _Glad to hear it_ " spoke up sergeant Opdahl, his voice far clearer now that his senses had returned. " _I'm taking my leave now. Need to check up on the other teams and see if they managed to accomplish their own missions_ ".

"Very well. Safe travels to you, sergeant"

" _Same to you, Tenno. Good luck_ "

And so, Umbra pulled Hate free from the rock and began climbing the wall, finally reaching the top and dashing away to rendezvous with Noble once more…

**-O-**

The Sangheili Ultra watched as what remained of his forces limped back towards the outpost, nursing grievous wounds after the surprise attack by the creatures. He had expected that the wild life would attempt an attack upon them soon, but something like this… It was too sudden. And right after reports that one of the forward teams had gone dark…

Something was amiss.

With veiled apprehension, the Ultra strode towards the power plant and, as discreetly as he could, examined every corner of the human buildings. Yet there seemed to be no sign of tampering, sabotage, or even intrusion.

His thoughts quickly turned to the stealth pylon, their only cover against the human's surveillance network.

… Could it be…

The Ultra made his way towards the pylon and set about to examining it thoroughly, running his hands over the plating and pulling back on a few loose cables upon the legs. When the search returned nothing, he rode the grav-lift to the second floor and set about examining there, but there was still nothing. Perhaps he was wrong…?

That is when he noticed something on the corner of his vision, just above on the extra support beams surrounding the pylon. Amidst the smooth surfaces of the pylon's main structure, there seemed to be something askew right above the strut. The Ultra took a step towards it, when a voice rang out from below.

[Ultra 'Ohamee! Humans have been found nearby, they're engaging our troops! They request reinforcements!]

Cursing, the Ultra gazed up at the pylon once more before leaping off the edge of the platform to join his troops.

Five minutes later, 'Ohamee had entered a firefight against a particularly large group of human militia forces, all of them armed with heavy weapons acquired from the caches hidden amidst the valley. And while the Covenant succeeded in nearly wiping out the human assailants, they suffered casualties.

Ultra 'Ohamee died from an anti-material round through the throat, courtesy of one Sergeant Opdahl, who died shortly after from the super-combine detonation of a needler rifle.

And with the Ultra's death, the UNSC's mission remained undiscovered.

**-O-**

"It appears the diversion was successful"

"Heh… You can say that again"

Umbra and Jun watched from amidst some rocks as below them, several scar-covered gúta scavenged the fresh Covenant corpses and bodies of their kin that now littered the cliff trails. Blood of so many colors caked the grass and soil, mixing together into a macabre painting as the animals claimed their freshly-acquired kills of the ones that had taken their territories so brazenly. Had the gútas any more brain capacity, they certainly would relish and enjoy their victory far more openly. Instead, the massive animals simply fed themselves on hard-earned flesh, their fury now replaced with an eerily silent ritual.

Still, they had served their purpose. The Covenant would be hard-pressed to blame something like this on an infiltration team for now, and that meant the UNSC still held the element of surprise… For now. They would have to make it count.

The slightest noise of soil being displaced made both Tenno and Spartan turn, just in time to see Six and Zaktur slide down the incline to join them. The Charger trod over right in front of its master and sat, allowing Umbra to scratch the leathery hide on its head. Six merely gave the two quick nods of acknowledgment before drawing his weapon once more.

"Mission accomplished"

"Alright, let's get going then".

Reunited once more, the four took off running once more through the trail, carefully stepping over the remains of the aliens still strewn about. Overhead, a wing of Banshees flew past, thankfully unaware of the infiltrators sneaking below, while off in the distance, they could see a Covenant heavy corvette hovering over some plains, shadowed on one side by the mountains surrounding it.

"Noble Two, we have eyes on at least one Covenant ship" called out Jun, stopping momentarily to mark the vessel electronically on the map.

" _Solid copy. Don't stop now_ ".

Their travel did not last much longer, however, and soon they found themselves nearing the edge of a massive drop, with scant rocks providing a modicum of concealment. The two Nobles and Umbra quickly went prone and dragged themselves over to the edge, peering down at the sight before them.

An ocean of purples and violets, covered in wide-spanning transparent shields maintained by pylons even larger than the ones they had seen in the energy plant. Faint silhouettes of moving vehicles, be they hover machines and towering walkers or cruising aircraft, silhouetted in contrast to the two corvettes that shadowed the area in silent vigil.

The las time Umbra had witnessed such a military gathering, it had been at the eve of one of the last offensives the Orokin had mustered in the war against the Sentients, before they shifted their efforts from mass armies into the creation of Warframes. Today, he witnessed a numerical might that challenged even that, all focused on the conquest of one single planet.

So this was to fight an unstoppable annihilation…

"Jackpot" muttered Jun as he peered through the scope of his sniper at the forces below.

"Transmitting visual" called out Six beside him, his visor briefly lighting up in response. "Confirm?"

" _Confirmed_ " replied Kat, her voice still as calm as ever. " _Receiving Noble Three and Six's lvie visual of a Covenant strike force_ "

"Strike force? It's a damn invading army" called out the green sniper in anger. "If we're gonna smother this thing, we need to go in hard and fast"

" _Agreed. All recon teams disengage and fall back. Sun will be up in a few hours… And it's going to be a very busy day"_

" _Belay that order"_

The sound of the new voice in their radios caught all four by surprise, the three deployed Nobles stilling right as they were about to stand up. Kat was the first to recover and reply. " _Who's this? Identify yourself_ "

"Agent Mirallia" called out Umbra, drawing the gaze of both his current teammates.

" _Correct. I am here to give you all your new deployment orders_ "

"What new deployment orders?" questioned Jun, and from the edge in his voice, the sniper seemed quite angered at the intrusion. "We just found a Covenant staging ground, and Holland's orders are—"

" _The colonel's orders are effective now null and void, Noble Three. You are now directly under ONI's command"_

" _On whose orders?"_

" _My orders"_ came the ice-cold reply, teeming with an authority and menace that seemed to move mountains with every syllable. " _And if you wish to verify them, lieutenant commander, you are more than welcome to run by official channels, as unaccustomed to them as you are_ ".

Before Kat could even attempt to reply, Six intervened, his own tone as tranquil as it always was. "What are the current deployment orders, ma'am?".

It was the tone he had always utilized with all his ONI handlers. Whenever one took command of an operation, it meant the absolute best was expected of the soldiers being directed.

Six had earned his hyper-lethal status in those expectations. There was a reason the Insurrection had not gained much ground after he had been deployed against them.

" _All available UNSC ground and space forces will assemble for a covert mass deployment against the Covenant forces you've confirmed. Recon Team Bravo, however, is now ordered to link-up with an awaiting Owl Insertion Craft currently two klicks from your position, to be transported to the Lábatlan province, linking up with the remaining Noble Team elements en-route"_

"Our destination?".

The silence that followed the question was oppressive, especially so that for a brief moment, Six would have sworn he heard the agent shiver on the other side of the line.

"… _Is Excalibur Umbra present?_ " she finally asked. Six and Jun turned to face the Tenno, who after a brief moment, sat up from the ground and knelt in his customary meditation position.

"I am"

" _Forty minutes ago, we received a distress signal. Encoded in it was a simple message, carrying only a set of coordinates that pointed to the Tiltott Tudás Excavation Outpost, marked in ONI databases as Site Lambda-A5. These coordinates are your destination_ "

"Why does this concern me, Agent?"

" _For one reason, Tenno Excalibur. The first is that this distress signal did not arrive through ONI channels or UNSC ones_ ". Once more, a heavy silence fell upon the line, but this time Umbra could feel a building sense of dread building on the back of his mind.

Could she mean…?

" _The signal was sent directly to your ship. And immediately after, all its systems locked down, and the Sentinel units aboard forced our research teams out"_

…

No…

… _**tap… tap…**_


	11. Chapter 11

Carter knew himself to be a soldier of preparedness. Knowing the situation as best as possible, the area of operations, your expected opposition, conditions of combat, so on and so on. Preparedness guaranteed that you would survive until your next mission, and repeating made sure you lived for as long as possible. It was a basic of war.

Hence why the current situation bothered him very much.

He had gone through the maps of the area for the mining facility, but his current handler made it clear the facility was _far_ larger than it was recorded. They had no communications with any personnel, and thus the current status was _also_ unknown. There were reports of Covenant forces moving to attack the location, but they were unconfirmed.

And the most important, no information on what could have happened.

If it _had_ been the Covenant, they would have known it straight away, and it would have been an UNSC operation made by a less imperative asset than a full SPARTAN-III team currently deployed under WINTER CONTINGENCY, and their temporary addition in the form of a trans-dimensional warrior.

Who currently was his biggest unknown. Because according to what Jun had told him, the Tenno had been completely silent ever since Agent Mirallia told him of the distress signal. All he did was tinker with his submachinegun and fiddle with some kind of golden tuning fork.

That had been the case for the last hour. Even when they rendezvoused.

This did not bode well at all.

"Kat, how much longer to the outpost?" he finally asked, calling out to his second in command sitting on the passenger seat in the cockpit and monitoring several monitors at once.

"Ten minutes at most" she replied, tapping lightning-fast through the streams of data. "Still trying to find anything on what's inside"

"And?"

"Nothing. Files are either dead or incomplete, and no off-site communications for the last week or so"

"What about before that?" called out Jorge from where he was assembling the cleaned parts of Etilka back into its complete state.

"Nothing too. Just some passing mentions of them digging trying to find minerals"

"We all know that's a bunch of garbage, don't we?" spoke up Emile. "ONI's hiding something, and they don't feel like telling us".

"Isn't that how they normally is?" asked Noble Five back, which drew a chuckle from Four. Yet all Noble One could do was let out a thoughtful hum as he stared at the ground, his mind once more racing to try and assemble their mission plan.

"… Carter, we have a problem"

That is, until Kat called out to him, with the words spoken in a tone he did not wish to hear now of all times. Carter quickly made haste towards the cockpit, and was greeted by the sight of a frantic pilot trying all of his instruments, and a far more composed Noble Two doing the same to the ones in front of her. "What's happening?"

"We just lost most of our electronics, sir" spoke the pilot, his tapping only growing more frantic as he shifted focus between what few instruments were still online.

"Covenant jamming?"

"No sir, they're not being interfered, they just… Turned off. Communications, scanners, external cameras, everything just… Shut off. All I have is flight controls"

"And all I have is the data I brought from the base. No connection to the outside" said Kat, her gaze still glued to her monitors. "Our armor's systems still work, but we have no long-range comms". Suddenly, she raised her data pad up, touched it a few times, then passed it over to Carter. "You got a message".

Quickly, Carter took the pad and scrolled his eyes through the message. It was short, to the point, and only served to add to his list of unknowns.

_This is Noble Six_

_Currently flying two hundred meters three o'clock of your position._

_Umbra instructed to land immediately._

It was never a Noble mission if it was easy.

But right now, Carter wished he knew _what_ mission they were getting into.

**-O-**

It did not take long for them to find a landing site, what with the surrounding area being mostly rocky flatlands. With almost nary a sound, the stealth transports set down onto the bare ground, their jet engines pushing aside pebbles and dust as their metal bulks sagged slightly under their weight. Hissing smoke escaped from vents as the access ramp to the transport area lowered and let in the cool air of the still-lingering night of the mountains. Carter, Kat, Emile and Jorge calmly walked out of the gunship towards its twin just as Jun, Six, Umbra and Zaktur came out as well, each one holding their weapons across their chest. To his surprise, Carter saw that the pilot had joined them, though she looked incredibly nervous to be doing so.

"Jun. Lieutenant" greeted Kat to the two approaching Spartans.

"Kat" replied the sniper with a nod, with Six beside him doing the same. They turned to look at Umbra, but the Tenno did not stop, instead leading the pilot and Zaktur towards the dropship the majority of Noble Team had come aboard on. "Don't ask, you know as much as we do".

"Did he say anything on the way here?" asked Jorge.

"Not a word. Just kept tinkering with his gun or meditating. Didn't look promising though"

"Think he's lost it?" piped up Four as he twirled his kukri, scraping it against his arm guard.

"Whatever's happening, he's keeping something from us" said Carter with some impatience. "Command has been trying to raise the outpost ever since his ship got the distress signal, and still nothing. And now they can't even enter the ship to get information, those robots of his still push everyone away".

"You could always ask" said Kat with no small amount of sarcasm, though Noble One seemed to not share her sense of humor this time, if the way he turned his head towards her was any sign. Any further discussion was halted when the faintest sounds of footsteps drew their attention towards the approaching Umbra, his stance rigid and movements almost mechanical.

"All is ready. We must move" he spoke, his voice low and deprived of any emotion, before turning towards the direction of the mining outpost. His action was halted however when a hand fell onto his shoulder, and a look over it revealed said hand belonged to Jorge. Even hidden behind the orange visor, Umbra felt the questioning look he was given, alongside the suspicious and wary ones given by the other members of Noble. He knew what they would ask, what they would question.

_What is waiting at the end?_

_**But you wouldn't tell them… Would you?** _

… Yes.

Yes. He would.

_**How fortuitous.** _

"… We will most likely encounter void corruption at our destination" he finally spoke, his tone neutral. "I know not of its current severity or spread, but I presume it to be wide"

"Is that why our electronics shut down?" asked Kat.

"Possibly"

"And would be causing it?"

"… I do not know. We will discover when we arrive".

They wanted more. It was obvious, considering the way they continued staring at him, but he had no more to say. Or at the very least, anymore that he could say. Except perhaps, his wish that he would be wrong.

Mercifully, Jorge seemed to take it as satisfactory for the moment, settling to give the Warframe a reassuring pat on the shoulder before striding forward, hefting Etilka as he moved. Soon, each member of Noble followed, with only Six taking a moment to gaze at Umbra before joining his squad.

And so they went, breaking into a sprint as the seven headed towards the mining station. Behind them, the transport bay of the Owl sealed shut as the two pilots and Zaktur made themselves as comfortable as possible.

It did not take long for the scratches and tapping to begin. And beside the three, in the transport bay, the Donda began spinning.

**-O-**

Spartan IIIs when equipped with SPI armor could reach a top speed of thirty kilometers per hour, thanks to their baseline augmentation.

Equipped with Mark V MJOLNIRs and being Category Two candidates, the members of Noble Team easily made double that speed, their enhanced muscles and powered armor pushing the quarter ton mass they carried with as much as ease as if they were wearing nothing at all. Alongside them, Umbra kept pace easily, Technocyte-bred muscles never tiring from the run as they made their way closer. Their objective markers showed their target to be a bit over a kilometer away, past a cliffside they'd have to climb down somehow.

And all the way, the spark of anxiety in Umbra's mind only grew stronger.

Their pace died quickly when Carter raised his hand into the air, the Spartans coming to a stand-still just short of turning around a large jagged rock formation, weapons at the ready as they scanned their surroundings. With two fingers, Noble One ordered them forward, with Six and Four quickly moving beside him, the other three Nobles and Umbra forming the rear-guard. As one, they paced around the massive rock, and came upon a worrying sight: a crashed Covenant Phantom, buried into the stone and with a massive trail of displaced ground behind it.

Like shadows, the seven stalked towards the vehicle, with Emile and Six forcing their way through the askew troop bay door. The other fanned out around the craft, sweeping every corner with their weapons for any trace of a trap, yet none came. And not a moment later, One and Four exited the Phantom, their weapons lowered.

"Ship's clear. There's nothing inside" said Six matter-of-factly.

"Any bodies?"

"Commander, there's _nothing_ " insisted Emile, waving his shotgun with some frustration. "No bodies, no engine damage, this thing is completely intact. Looks more like they abandoned it mid-air"

"Then where's the crew?" asked Kat aloud, turning to face Umbra. The Tenno, however, offered no reply, instead watching the craft intently. "What about electronics?"

"Offline just like ours. Same thing: no sign of tampering or damage, just won't turn back on"

"Commander? You're gonna want to see this".

The call from Jun from further away, standing at the edge of the cliff and peering down through his sniper's scope, drew the attention from both Spartan and Warframe, who moved to stand beside Noble Three.

The sight he had called them for was, at least for six of the present, unlike anything they'd seen before. For the last one, it was something he was painfully familiar with.

The mining station was a standard, utilitarian installation that was borderline mass-produced by the UNSC for ease of construction and quickness of utilization. Large buildings of metal and glass, with the eagle emblem branded proudly on its walls. Heavy machinery was strewn about, diggers and drills made to tear through the earth and reach the rich minerals that fueled humanity's war machine. Off to the side, a few smaller buildings, these made of concrete and steel instead, and clearly far more military in their utilization, with gun emplacements and vehicle garages strewn about.

But that was as far as the normality of it went.

The buildings were not intact. At random points, ashen-colored stone with glowing crystal lines grew like a mineral cancer from the buildings. A sickly haze hovered around these growths, twisting the air around them and giving the impression of being underwater, with a heavy fog seeping towards the ground and spreading across the area. Silvery-white roots, branches and trees broke through the ground and snaked around anything they could find, pulsing in a slow, eerily serene way, motes of light peeling off their ghostly bark like starlight. And scattered around the area were even more Covenant Phantoms, all of them similarly crashed yet intact.

"Found the reason for our distress signal" finished the sniper, looking over his shoulder at the approaching soldiers. Their reactions, though muted, were apparent by the minimal stiffening of their spine or the slightest twitch of their arms, and made evident their surprise. "Care to enlighten us?"

"Arboroflora is an Orokin technology", Umbra began explaining as he peered down at the overtaken facility. "It is born from the void, used to transmit energy and data streams"

"A biological CPU and powerline?"

"Correct. And if left unattended, will grow to overtake anything in its path"

"We got the signal just days ago, how did all this happen? And how did it get here?" asked Kat with the slightest hint of surprise.

"I do not know… Only a large-scale void breach would cause something like this… But real space seems stable"

"Alright, then you'll take point in this" spoke up Carter as he checked the magazine of his DMR. "We'll find what's causing this, shut it down, and look for any personnel. Understood?"

"Yes"

"Alright. Noble Team, move"

**-O-**

Silence.

Unnatural, oppressive, all-encompassing. It hit them as soon as they entered the fog. The air grew stagnant, heavy, with a stillness that seemed to affect time itself. Not a pebble moved, not a mote of dust floated…

And no light reached them.

The skies of Reach did not exist above. Only an infinite white expanse.

In the blink of an eye, Noble Team had crossed into Void. Now, there was only forward. And though they were Spartans, trained to face any threat and stare it down unflinchingly… Even they felt a cold on their spine.

Ahead, Umbra moved unflinchingly, his Baza Prime held high as he meticulously scanned his surroundings. At his waist hung a Donda, tied to his body by a small string, and currently unmoving.

A small miracle.

Jun swept the area with his DMR, grip tight around the trigger. "No bodies… Think the Covenant turned and ran?".

"Doubt it. Covenant wouldn't send this many troops just to run away" replied Kat, SMG and Magnum held tightly against one another. "And we'd have found remains nearby".

"Our primary objective's still securing this facility" cut off Carter, the blue Spartan pacing side-by-side with Umbra. "We find the cause of this, ascertain any solutions, and report to HQ".

Soon, they came upon the entrance of the facility. The doors were the standard security type, large metal slabs that slid into the wall. A control panel was right next to it, its purpose obvious, but the lack of any lighting making it clear it would not function. With a quick hand sign, Jorge moved forward, Etilka hanging from one hand as he reached forward with the other. Five grasped one of the grooves of the door and, with a muffled snapping sound of effort, pried the door open, sliding the entire metal slab into its alcove on the wall. The Spartan II knelt and picked up a large metal cylinder than had fallen off the door, giving it a quick examination before tossing it back into the ground. "Security locks were still in place…". With a knowing exchange of glances, Noble Team and Umbra moved inside, Emile pulling the door closed once they were all inside.

Not a light shone inside the main hall, something quickly rectified when the Spartans switched to their Night Vision. For Umbra, this was granted by his Infested body sliding membranes over his eyes, turning his world from pure black to black and white, and finally bringing the room into cohesion.

But said cohesion only revealed chaos: loose papers, some overturned furniture, broken lamplights and even pieces of the floor and ceiling smashed into bits. Arboroflora roots snaked through any hole they could, and faint motes floated lazily through the air.

Blood and bodies.

Purple, red and teal, coating the walls and the corpses of Grunts, Jackals, Elites and Brutes that laid haphazardly all around, limbs torn and spread across the room. Plasma burns from weapons that had been used and spent littered about, some still grasped by the hands of their owners. A few had bullets holes on them, all centered on vital parts. The rest did not.

"Here's the Covenant. No human casualties though…"

"What the hell happened in here? It's like they were torn apart by animals"

"Umbra? Any ideas?"

"Many… All of them equally plausible" muttered the Warframe, tugging lightly at the Donda tied around his waist. To his growing frustration, it was now lightly rattling. "Noble Two, what is our heading?"

"Main access shaft is through this hallway" replied Kat, pointing at the desired direction. Fittingly, the trail of bodies seemed to originate from said hallway, with more and more blood coating the walls and floor as the passage went on.

Silently as they could, Noble Team moved forward, their weapons at the ready as they swiped the eternal darkness for any sign of life. Their radars showed no contacts, and neither did Umbra's, but the Donda's constant jittering made sure that the Tenno paid extra attention to anything hidden on nooks and crannies.

And still, nothing came. The halls remained as dead as the Covenant that had entered this place. And soon, even the blood trail had ended, leaving only the silver roots and metal to surround them.

"One hundred meters to the shaft" called out Kat. "It's just—"

_THUNK_

The seven snapped their weapons around immediately towards the source of the sound. It had come from behind another set of doors, with a sign above them reading RESEARCH LAB 2. And there was blood seeping from under them.

Black blood.

Six and Emile quickly moved closer to the door, pointing their assault rifle and shotgun respectively at the closed entrance. The others remained in a semi-circle surrounding the door, the grip on their weapons vice-like. Emile unsheathed his kukri and shoved the blade through the gap between each door. He turned towards Carter, who gave a single nod in response, before pushing them apart with the blade.

As soon as they parted, a human body fell through the gap, hitting the floor with a loud _splat_ and pooling even more blood beneath it. Noble and Umbra jerked their weapons down towards the body, but when it remained still, they turned instead to the inside of the room. Carefully, the Tenno stepped over the corpse and swept the room with the Baza, followed closely by the Spartans. The humans took only three steps into the room before stopping to stare at the scene that revealed itself to them. Jorge was the first to speak.

"Mi a fene..."

The Covenant had a reputation for brutality when killing humans. Some races more than others. And because of that, whenever Noble Team deployed against the aliens, they had grown accustomed to seeing mutilated bodies and grizzly battlefields. But this… This was not brutality. It was chaos. Ritualistic chaos.

Bodies were strewn about, dozens of Marines, workers and scientists, nailed to the walls and floor by the Arboroflora, some even on the ceiling. Bones and tumors covered whatever limbs they still had attached. Black ichor pooled onto the floor, making each step splash, and the walls were covered in strange and unnerving symbols, some in a crude humanoid shape of… _something_ … Looming over a bird-like symbol.

"Place's a damn bloodbath…" muttered Emile as he moved from corpse to corpse, even nudging some of them with his foot. The others followed suit, checking each one for any surprise, yet none of them moved.

"Something is wrong…" spoke Umbra as he raised one torn-off arm closer to his face. "Poisonous as it is, the Void has never done something like this. Its corruption is of spirit and mind, not physical".

"Found something"

Six's voice drew their attention to a secluded corner of the room, where the far less mutated body of a researcher was propped against the wall. In his lap, hidden behind his arms and flickering in the darkness, was a small datapad. Carefully, Six withdrew the pad from the corpse's grasp and reached for his own tacpad attached to his wrist. A tug to its side revealed a small cable that was quickly inserted onto the datapad's connection port. A moment passed, and the pad fully lit up, with the only things on-screen being four audio files, all filed under one _Doctor Avolei_.

"Still functioning" said Six as he turned fully towards his team, turning the datapad towards them. "Should I, sir?"

"Let's hear it"

With a nod, Six pressed on the first audio file, and the play back began.

_Day 1, Doctor Avolei speaking… Well, this is mostly for formality's sake if everything goes to hell and ONI finds it on the crater this place could end up as._

_Even two months in, and we still haven't managed to find whatever is causing these strange energy readings. It is like if we actively look for it, it hides more. Almost like it's… Alive._

_Still, we have a general sense of which direction to look for, and that should be enough for now. I just hope we can find it sooner rather than later._

_Day 10 of the excavation._

_We've found it. We've finally found it._

_It is… I don't even know how to describe it! Even after seeing it with my own eyes, it was simply breathtaking. It challenges every notion of science we've had so far! And yet… Well, that's the problem._

_We don't really know what to do with it. Our instruments can barely register any data, and no physical probing has gotten results. I… I feel like a monkey poking a slipspace drive with a stick, just completely—_

… _Wait… I got it! I got—_

_Day 14! I did it!_

_I called up the supervisor and managed to convince him enough that he authorized the project. They're bringing in the slipspace drive, and all the machinery is being gathered. If all my theories are correct, then we'll finally be able to crack that anomaly. I can hardly wait! The procedure will be performed tomorrow as soon as the drive is properly readied._

_Finally, we'll get somewhere!_

"That one's dated yesterday" said Six, closing the file once its audio finished.

"A slipspace drive, though?" asked Jun with an incredulous tone. "What exactly were they trying to do here?".

"Six, anything else?"

"There's one more file. It's from a few hours ago". The black-armored Spartan reached towards the last file…

… _creak…_

But dropped it in favor of raising his gun, towards the door they had come from just as Umbra and the others did the same, only to be surprised by yet another macabre surprise.

Twitching and spasming, the first corpse they had found now stood upright at the arch, black ichor dripping from it as it let out a low, groaning moan.

On Umbra's waist, the Donda would not stop spinning.

He took one step forward.

The corpse's head spun around, twisting the neck a full one-eighty to stare at the seven soldiers with its black, star-dotted eyes, and screeched.

The moment they opened fire on the reanimated corpse, Spartan Time kicked in, while Umbra's body flooded with toxins to heighten his reaction time.

In the slowed down world, they watched as the corpse they had aimed at was gunned down mercilessly by a wall of bullets, only to be replaced quickly as every single other corpse in the room leapt towards them. Their limbs spurted and splashed ichor as they were forced to move, rent and torn by the mutated bones that spurted from within. Their jaws hung open, misshapen teeth bared and aimed to tear into the bodies of the Spartans.

Noble was surrounded. But they also had the firepower.

The darkness disappeared as their weapons roared to life, flashes of orange and yellow banishing it away as slugs and rounds began flying in all directions, tearing a bloody swath through any flesh they found. Bone and ichor splashed into the air even more, limbs flying wildly and bodies dropping onto the blood-covered floor.

And yet they still came. Soon, their hands reached the Spartans and Tenno.

Shields flared as the undead tried to pry the armor open and reach the flesh below, but the golden and blue barriers held. And yet still they felt the strength behind every blow, swipe and bite. An inhuman strength, that tore their own limbs and broke their jaws, yet did little to daunt the onslaught, and that seemed to be undone as soon as it occurred.

Those that could switched the hold on their weapons to a one-handed grip and drew combat knifes from their holsters, swinging them with deadly accuracy at tendons, ligaments, joints… Anything that could stop the assault of the corpses. Emile expertly twirled his kukri, the blade weaving across the air and slicing apart limbs with contemptuous ease, while Jorge settled to simply swinging Etilka at every open position he could find, slamming both bullet and barrel into any enemy.

With Baza braced against his torso and Hate held in a reverse grip, Umbra shot and slashed through the bodies, the ebony blade slicing skin and bone as if they were mist parted by a fan. One of the corpses, nothing but a torso and one arm, shot forward to grasp the handle of the scythe, wrapping its cadaveric fingers around the black cylinder. As soon as it tried to pry the weapon away, Umbra slammed his knee in the corpse's torso, spun around and smashed it against another creature that tried to rush him from behind. The Tenno then fired the remaining bullets on the clip at the two enemies, tearing the decayed flesh apart with every round. When the clip clicked empty, Umbra holstered the Baza and withdrew several Despairs from his pouch, holding them between his fingers as he began punching and slicing. One of said corpses leapt onto Kat's back, but found itself flipped over her head and with a burst of her SMG through the head, the body returned to stillness.

And just as suddenly as it began, it ended. To the seven, it had felt like hours of crawling time.

In truth, it had been two minutes.

Umbra and Noble gave one last sweep of their surroundings as they loaded fresh ammunition into their weapons. "Clear", spoke up Six, firing two short bursts into one Marine body that slightly twitched when a light fell upon him.

"Not for long" replied Umbra, lifting the Donda to eye level.

It was still spinning.

The wails of the damned echoed amidst the halls of the facility, and their radars became a sea of red.

"To the main shaft, NOW!" shouted Carter as the walls and floor began rattling. The Spartans and Tenno dashed out the door, crunching flesh and splashing blood as they filed into the hallway, a single file as the tide of enemies shifted and began closing into their position. To their luck, the hallway soon ended with a set of two massive, heavy-looking doors that the Spartans recognized as a heavy-duty armored elevator.

And unfortunately, it too seemed shut down.

"Stand back" warned Umbra, calling upon the Parazon on his wrist and stabbing it onto the control panel next to the elevator. Lightning arced from his body into the circuitry as his energy poured into the panel, making the entire thing whine and spurt until finally the lights right above the group came alive and the elevator doors opened with a deafening groan.

Just as a wall of necrotic flesh, tumors and bones began barreling down the hallway, screeching and screaming as they piled atop one another, crushing one another under their own mass in their frenzied fury.

Without a moment's hesitation, Jorge withdrew from his backpack three black-and-orange cylinders bundled together and smashed their tops against the wall. The napalm grenades began clicking softly as their timers counted down, and with practiced dexterity threw the three explosives towards the corpse tide. Beside him, Emile pulled his grenade launcher in one fluid motion fired, reloaded, and fired again, just as the elevator doors opened completely and allowed the seven into the spacious box.

In a flash, the five grenades detonated, raising a wall of flame between Noble and the abominatios. Their tumors boiled and popped, skin melting off bone as they touched the napalm, yet it seemed to only slow their advance, not halt it. Corpses piled onto the floor, the ones still moving clambering over the charred remains to reach their target, instead being met with another torrent of bullets courtesy of Jorge, Jun and Kat.

Umbra was the last inside, withdrawing the Parazon from the panel outside and stabbing it into the one inside. Once more power began flowing, allowing Six to slam his fist against the down button. The doors groaned once more as they began closing, slow enough that some of the corpses managed to reach them and try to squeeze past the gap. Six and Carter quickly put an end to it as they gunned down the few stragglers, Umbra taking a few potshots with the Baza before the multi-ton steel slabs closed shut and the elevator began its long descent.

"How long until they breach the doors?" asked Kat, looking to the doors they had left behind as the elevator made its trek into the depths below.

"Long enough" replied the Tenno. "Strong as they may have become, they have no way to break down metal other than their own hands. We will have time"

"Good" said Carter, holstering his DMR in favor of his assault rifle. He looked at the floor indicator and saw they were quickly approaching the dig site level. "Then we find the anomaly, stop it, and put an end to this whole thing. Six, was there anything on that pad that would help us identify it?"

"Commander? I think we just found it"

The tone of surprise in Jorge's voice was quick to draw the attention from the rest of Noble, and as they turned to stare in the same direction as Five, the same feeling flowed into them.

Because the moment the massive metal box left the metal shaft it had been descending on and entered the support beam structure leading into a massive cave littered with pre-fab UNSC buildings and a large Slipspace drive precariously propped on a metal support right in the middle, they laid eyes on the so-called "anomaly".

And to Umbra, the gargantuan wall of shifting and twisting blackness of space and stars that made up the entire far side of the cave could not be more familiar.

"What is that?"

"… A torsion field… An Orokin defense mechanism… And the source of the Void breach"

**-O-**

Somewhere inside the facility, two armor-clad figures watched the seven soldiers descend onto their oncoming gauntlet with cold impassiveness.

And on the other side of the wall of twisted real-space, a figure swayed their legs and laughed softly, tapping three fingers on the gold-lined white metal they were perched upon.

" **It's been a while… Hello there, Wisp** "


	12. Chapter 12

Their professionalism still triumphed over the sight of something truly unknown as Noble Team and Umbra approached the massive starlight wall at the back of cave. Above, the deafening echo of hundreds of bodies colliding with the elevator’s doors thundered down the shaft and onto the cavern, a reminder of the horde they had just escaped from, and of what this anomaly had caused to the base’s personnel. Just ahead of them, the familiar yet altered form of a Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine, propped on a large, thick stand and pointed at the far-end of the cave. From the engine itself sprouted dozens of arboriform roots that bore through the rock around and snaked up towards the facility above and towards the walls of the cave, the silver veins inside it pulsing and writhing as with a heartbeat.

The lack of bodies in the cave only made them more aware of the fate that had befallen the possible hundreds of UNSC personnel that had occupied this facility.

“So how do we shut this thing off?” asked Kat, sweeping over the area with her SMG as she walked towards the Slipspace drive, wiping some of the built-up dust on the keyboard and screen set up next to it. The rest of Noble kept close, weapons still raised, but the deafening silence only sometimes interrupted by the clashing above indicated that indeed, they seemed to be alone. Kat hit a few keys, but much to her chagrin the engine remained offline. “Dammit… Dead”

“Well they used that on the anomaly, right?” called out Emile impatiently. “We need it to shut that thing down”

“You’re incorrect”. The Spartans turned to Umbra, watching the Tenno pace towards the engine as he pulled from his waist a strange golden symbol, with several prongs coming out of one side. “They believed they had a key to a door’s lock”. Umbra stopped beside the Slipspace drive, and in one sudden movement, rammed the golden object into the engine’s fuselage, making golden lightning arc all over it as the engine began humming with a deep bass sound. “They merely had the lock to the door”. Before any of the Spartans could question his action, the monitor in front of Kat lit up with displays on the drive’s status and previous programmed actions. However, alongside the usual English texts and readouts, strange wave patterns surrounded the virtual image of the Slipspace engine, pointing to the spot Umbra had rammed the object and to a few other spots in it.

“What did you do?” asked Jun, eyeing the humming drive somewhat apprehensively. Umbra turned his head to the Spartan, then pointed to the golden object.

“This is a Void Key. It is used on torsion beam projectors to stabilize rift gates such as these, and allow the bridging of two points in space-time”. The Tenno motioned to the drive in front of him, then turned towards the massive rift at the end of the cave. “Your scientists must have attempted the same principle using your FTL technology, but without a key to neuter and control the Void energy emitted, it instead ran wild… Causing the results we’ve witnessed”

“And those mutations on the bodies?”

“Likely an effect of slipspace interacting with the Void… I’d require to perform further tests to confirm”

“Out of question” quickly and harshly intersected Carter. “This thing’s a threat, we’re taking it out. Kat, how’s the drive?”

“Seems operational, as far as the diagnostics check out. Only way to find out is firing it up”

“Do it”

With a nod, Kat took to the keyboard and began typing down rapidly on it, streams of commands and codes passing through the screen. As she did so, the drive’s noises began growing louder, the golden lightning becoming more frequent as a white-and-gold ball began forming at the front of the engine. Both Noble and Umbra backed away from the increasingly more active drive, when suddenly a bright beam of energy shot out from the drive and struck the Void Rift.

It was a loud, booming echo that came from the wall of starlight, like that of a gong, making the entire cave tremble and loosening rocks and unsecured equipment. And at the point of the beam’s impact, long thin cracks began expanding outwards, seeping around and onto the negative space created by the anomaly. The Spartans stared at the ensuing effect in varying degrees of interest, before turning to face Umbra, who now stood facing the elevator shaft with Dread in hand and several arrows stabbed onto the ground around him.

Floating next to his head, the Donda spun and twisted in wild directions, free of the cord that held it in place.

“Alright Noble, get into position. Jorge, Jun, I want you to at the back of the cave, give us suppressing fire. Emile and Kat, form up near the drive, make sure nothing gets close. Six, you’re with me, set up forward. Let’s move”. And as one, move they did, with each Spartan quickly taking up their designated spots around the cave:

Jorge climbed onto a boulder and propped Eltika against it, swiveling the HMG to measure his area of fire. Jun quickly scaled a natural pillar on the back, bracing himself between it and the rock wall in a crude sniper perch. Emile and Kat stood on opposite sides of the drive, shotgun and SMG readied and pointed towards the still empty shaft. To the sides, taking cover amidst metal crates and rocks, Six and Carter pointed their own weapons, safeties off and fingers hovering over the trigger.

Umbra, still as a statue, stood ahead of them all, one arrow resting on Dread’s string, waiting to be pulled.

And so… They waited.

Not a moment later, the incessant banging stopped.

But the elevator shaft did not fill with the tide of dead. Nary a single corpse appeared in their line of fire. There was just the silence. Finally, it was Emile that spoke up.

“I got a bad feeling about this…”

A moment later, the Donda exploded into pieces. Another, and a deafening roar echoed from the elevator shaft, followed by the flaming remains of the heavy duty doors crashing down onto the ground level.

Right behind it, the tide of undead.

They cared not how many were crushed by the fall, smashed into little more than paste held together by necrotic skin. They howled and wailed, clawing themselves from the growing pile of cadavers and towards the few living beings remaining inside the mines.

Noble wasted no time in their reply, and neither did Umbra. The second a corpse managed to free itself from the pile-up, it and several others behind it found themselves split into pieces by a Dread arrow. Several more flew from Umbra’s bow, two or three at a time, and indeed cut down several of the tainted corpses. And yet the undead came still, their frenzied bloodlust making them uncaring of any of their fellows even as more arrows came flying and struck their marks just as the first. Behind the Tenno, the humans’ firearms spat fiery death from multiple angles, now free of the tight confines of the base and readily more usable. And indeed, the necrotic flesh easily gave way to the heavy caliber ammunition that Noble put forth, spewing blood and gore all around their targets.

But the tide of death did not give out. They continued, dogpiling over their fallen and still moving brethren, like a misshapen wave of flesh threatening to consume the six humans and Tenno in its wake. The Spartans did not relent in their fire, only ceasing by a few seconds each to reload their weapons, and yet still the volume did not diminish. When Emile took a step back to refill his shotgun’s shells, Kat stepped forward using her pistol to keep the pressure. When Jorge had to cool Eltika down, Six would cover his fire zones with a few bursts of his assault rifle. And any target Jun couldn’t take down in one shot were finished off by Carter and his DMR. But Umbra stood alone. And when the horde came close, all he could fall back to was his own blade.

Hate was out of its sheath in a flash, its ebony blade singing through the air a haunting tone as it parted flesh and bone in its path in two, slicing as cleanly through bodies and smearing itself with nary a drop of blood. Claws and hands reached for him, but Umbra weaved through them like a snake through the foliage, batting aside any undead that reached for him.

Some came closer, their cadaveric fingers scraping into his synthetic skin and armor, but they were weak, too weak to hurt the Warframe. But these distractions, small as they were, piled on. And in these brief moments, the undead passed around the Tenno, howling madly as they rushed towards the Slipspace drive. Emile quickly drew his kukri on one hand while bracing his shotgun with the other, letting fly his last few racked shells before his gun once more ran dry. And with chemicals flooding his system and a sinister laugh, Noble Four joined the grinder of blades.

“Getting crowded down here” said Six in utter calm as he threw a cooked grenade to the far back of the mob, splattering a few more corpses into minced meat. Two more jumped at him in an attempted surprise attack, but howling undead are not stealthy, and indeed were hosed down easily with two bursts from his assault rifle.

“They seem to be thinning though!” called out Jun from above as he slid in his last sniper magazine. “There can’t be many more of these things to kill”. With a resigned grunt, Six cast aside his spent assault rifle and pulled from his back a weapon he had “procured” with some insistence from the arsenal of Reach HQ, and managed to request Kat to bring it aboard on of their transports.

Modified for selectable fire mode, alternate ammo carrying capacity including miniaturized AP rockets, an increase in stopping power and with the addition of a computerized aiming system capable of limited prediction of fire trajectory, this M99 Stanchion had been something of a pet project for some of the armorers at the base to create a mainline weapon of the future for troops. Unfortunately, High Command had shut down the project, leaving this weapon the only functional product.

And while again, they had been very unwilling to part with the gun, when a hyper-lethal vector attached to one of the most preeminent Spartan-only units requests something from you, you tend to acquiesce.

And so now, he would put the weapon to the test.

With the safety off, aim synced to his helmet and set to semi-auto fire, Six pulled the trigger. Travelling at quasi supersonic speeds, the .55 caliber explosive round flew from the Stanchion’s barrel and impacted the torso of one of the still remaining tens of corpses, puncturing the skin for a split-second before, with a near deafening bang, it detonated inside the body with the full power of a grenade, detonating both its target and several others surrounding it. And so did Six repeat the motion, eight more times, each one costing the horde more and more corpses.

And at the last trigger pull, when his final shot wiped out five undead at once… It was over.

Umbra pulled Hate free from the chest of a fallen corpse and stared at the carnage that surrounded him and the Spartans, with Noble Team carefully surveying the once-more dead for safety. The once mostly pristine cave was now covered in burnt and torn flesh, broken fragments of bone and gallons of blood. Little of the equipment remained untouched or undamaged by the battle, and yet thankfully, the Slipspace drive was not one such equipment. The golden beam emanating from the FTL engine remained alight, and now that the firefight had died down, the seven saw that most of the arboriform had begun to wilt, the roots becoming shriveled and dry as the silver light within them retreated back inside the drive. And the anomaly, before only lightly cracked, now had the appearance of a massive broken mirror, with only the outer edges of the wall of starlight remaining intact. “The process is almost complete” spoke up the Tenno. “The contamination outside should have subsided as well. This will be over”.

“Something’s not right though”.

Umbra turned to Emile, who was scraping his kukri clean on his shoulder plate before sheathing it. “How did these things get through the doors? Those were at least ten inches thick, what the hell destroyed them?”. Before anyone else could reply, Jorge leapt down from his perch and strode towards the gathering of soldiers, Eltika still smoking red hot from the near uninterrupted fire.

“That explosion that happened, I recognize that sound”

“Jorge?”

“That was the blast of a UNSC demolition charge”

**_THUD-THUD_ **

The sound of two _very_ heavy objects smashing against the ground quickly drew the attention of all Nobles and Umbra, their weapons drawn and pointed at the large cloud of smoke that had rose at the point of impact. Inside it, they could see two large kneeling humanoid shapes, who very slowly stood to their imposing full height and began walking towards the gathered seven, stopping just outside of the smoke cloud.

They were opposites, but in complimenting. One blue-and-black, the other yellow-and-black. Their armor was very alike, mirrors of each other, with one smaller shoulder pauldron and one larger, even the communication antenna on the side of their helmets being on opposite sides, and a painted claw on the other side. Upon their chest armor, the tags A-161 and A-162 were painted in white, also in opposite sides. And both seemed to have suffered the wear and tear that _decades_ of battle would have caused.

Uttering nary a sound, still as a statue, their stance readied for any strike. The chilling image that so many, both human and Covenant, had faced. That was the aura the two Spartans standing across the group of seven emanated.

And though their emotions had been schooled and tamed by training so rigorous that it would have killed most, Noble felt two things fill them.

One was surprise.

The other… Was dread.

It was Carter that finally spoke up, breaking the tense silence between both parties.

“Attention Spartans. Identify yourselves immediately” spoke Noble One, his voice dripping with schooled anger and his grasp on his DMR vice-like. There was no response, however, the two figures still unmoving and silent. Carter looked beside him and was met with equal stares from the rest of his team, then turned back to the unknowns. “I repeat, identify yourselves”.

Finally, there was a reaction. The two Spartans turned their heads slowly towards each Noble then finally to Umbra, whom their gaze seem to linger for longer than the others.

Then lights began flashing in their helmets.

An amber one, twice.

A red one, thrice.

To Umbra, they meant nothing. To Noble, it was the only warning they got. Their systems blasted into Spartan Time, slowing the world to the familiar crawl.

And slowing the blinding burst of speed from the two Spartans enough that Six and Emile had just enough time to block the punches aimed at their throats.

The blows that could easily tear through a Brute’s armored body shook both Spartan-IIIs to their core, but with grit teeth they parried and drew their knife and kukri respectively, stabbing towards the black Spartans’ throats. In a blur the enemies’ hands shot up and slammed against their wrists, nearly forcing Six and Four to drop their blades, followed by devastating kicks to their chests. The two Nobles were sent skidding back, shields broken and their ribcages rattling from blows they realized were _far_ above what a Spartan could feasibly achieve.

Carter, Kat and Jorge were on the move the second Emile and Six were pushed back, the three soldiers dashing forward to fight. Carter and Kat aimed a kick and punch each at A-161’s leg and torso, and while the enemy Spartan blocked the former, the latter crashed against their chest with a sickening _crack_ , part of the metal coming undone and falling to the ground. The enemy Spartan reeled, but kept its ground, and quickly reached out to Kat’s mechanical hand, giving the limb a tight squeeze. Its servos whined and sparked, but Kat quickly drew her magnum and fired on the Spartan’s forearm until the armor broke and the bullets began tearing through the limb, just in time for Carter to pounce onto it and pull the forearm away and leaving it outstretched. With A-161 open, Six wasted no time and let fly another round of his Stanchion, striking the outstretched arm right at the elbow joint and tearing it clean from the body.

Beside the three, Jorge had instead simply rushed A-162 head-on, clasping his hands against the enemy Spartan’s and starting a battle of strength.

One that, to his utmost surprise, he felt himself giving bit-by-bit.

A loud _BANG_ echoed in the cave, courtesy of Jun’s sniper rifle firing a round straight at A-162’s head. Said enemy Spartan tilted their head to the side to avoid the shot, and while they certainly managed to avoid a full-on headshot, the round still clipped the side of the helmet, tearing out a sizeable portion of it. Without missing a beat, A-162 kicked towards Jorge’s shin, which the Spartan-II barely had time to step away from, but at the cost of his footing. With nary a sound, and to the surprise of Noble Five, the enemy Spartan crouched down and flipped the near half-ton super soldier over themselves and onto the ground. An armored boot quickly appeared hovering over Jorge, but just as it came down, a grey and beige blur collided with the black-armored figure, pushing just far enough that the curbstomp was stopped.

The moment Umbra collided with the unknown Spartan, he felt as if he had tried to tackle a rampaging Juggernaut, both in weight and stubbornness. Drawing two Despair knifes, the Tenno kneed the Spartan’s gut then punched both knifes into their throat.

To his surprise, he felt the armor give, but no sensation of flesh underneath being stabbed.

His thoughts on the matter vanished when he found himself wrapped in a bearhug by A-162, and not a moment later the Tenno felt his body groan and shake as the Spartan crushed him. Through the building haze of pain, Umbra reached for Hate still sheathed on his back, and with as much strength as he could gather, drove the blade onto the Spartan’s armpit and upwards. The Tenno-slaying blade sliced through the lesser armored part, burying itself halfway through the joint.

Just enough to stop one arm from crushing him.

Bracing his legs against the Spartan’s waist, Umbra curled then pushed outwards, feeling the arms give way then spread open around him. As he flew back, the Tenno grasped Hate’s handle and pulled, yanking the weapon free and deepening the cut further.

The seven soldiers leapt back and watched as the two unknown Spartans returned to neutral stances, uncaring of their injuries. And it was then that Noble and Umbra noticed something crucial…

The two Spartans did not bleed.

The torn-off limb from A-161 remained on the ground, the armor flaking away and coming apart in dust, but there was no human flesh to be found inside. Where Jun’s round had ripped the helmet apart, human bone could be seen.

And from every hole, ghostly mist poured freely, rising and disappearing into the air.

“What the hell…” muttered Jun through the radio, but he received no reply. The others stared in just as much shock as he did, their grips on their weapons so tight the carbon fiber and metal began creaking.

And once more, the lights flashed. Amber, two times. Red, three times.

It was Six and Umbra who stepped towards the two inhuman shells, their heads leveled to the enemy Spartans’ own. With a flick of his arm, Umbra threw Hate towards Six, the Spartan-III deftly catching the scythe mid-air before giving it an experimental twirl. In his other hand, he drew his combat knife, and quickly took a readied stance. Beside him, Umbra stared once more at the undead Spartans, before letting out a long exhale and clasping his hands together.

From between the Tenno’s hands, light began slipping out, brighter and brighter as wisps of fog slipped into between his palms as a light humming began echoing all around.

And when Umbra spread his hands apart, from the light came forth a sword with no equal.

Its blade was grey, flat and squared, ending in a flat angle. Upon its middle, a bark-like material wrapped in a long, intricate red cloth. Its hilt was wooden, with a cylinder for a pommel. And throughout its length, wisps of silver light flowed freely, their paths disappearing into the air like smoke.

Of all the weapons the Tenno had created to their bodies, just as Excalibur was the first Warframe… The Exalted Blade was the first of the Exalted Weapons.

The four combatants remained still, as if measuring one another, their stance solid and measured. The atmosphere became tense, heavy, with the only sound being the still-thrumming Slipspace drive.

Somewhere, a pebble fell to the ground.

In that instant, the four _moved_.

Six rushed A-161, thrusting his combat knife at the oncoming punch aimed at his ribs. The blade buried itself into the armored hand, stopping the blow midway through. Gripping Hate tightly on his remaining hand, Six swung it from the side, tearing into the side of the undead Spartan’s torso and leaving a massive gouge in the chest plate. A-161’s reply was to twist his impaled hand, breaking the knife’s blade at the hilt, before punching with the broken blade into one of the gaps in Six’s chest plate, breaking through the shields in one blow and thrusting into the armor beneath in another. Six felt the jagged metal slide through the undersuit and into his skin, hitting his reinforced bones beneath and rattling his entire ribcage, but the Spartan uttered not a sound in pain, instead replying in the quickest way he had.

Headbutting the enemy Spartan away. And indeed it worked, with A-161 stumbling back from the blow, their faceplate broken and revealing the white skull beneath. The broken knife slid out from the wound, launching droplets of blood into the air and hovering over the two.

In a blur, Hate’s blade swung between them and buried itself into the undead Spartan’s head, its tip erupting out the other side. With a furious pull, Six ripped the head out, flinging it away before turning back and burying the scythe onto the headless undead’s torso and ripping it open, exposing the emptied ribs and forcing a cloud of mist out of it. And with that, the body fell back, finally stopped.

Their entire exchange had taken little over twenty seconds in real time.

In that time, Umbra faced his own opponent.

The Tenno dodged and weaved around the lightning-fast practiced blows thrown at him, each one sending shockwaves as they passed. In return, the Exalted Blade blurred into dozens of strikes, each one leaving trails of energy in their path and adding one more slash onto the undead Spartan’s armor. And yet still, they would not slow down.

A living being accrued damage. Pain dulled the sense, destruction of the body reduced fighting capability, created advantage and disadvantage. But not to this Spartan.

No body. No mind. No soul.

**_Familiar, isn’t it?_ **

The words echoing inside his mind were enough to throw Umbra off balance for the briefest of moments, but it was enough. Another sluggish punch of the right side that could have been easily deflected became a blow that managed to strike his forearm and push the blade aside, creating a gap in his guard. And it was with no hesitation that A-162 close the distance, arm reared and ready to strike. Umbra had no chance to block.

All he could do was attack. As the fist blurred towards him, Umbra struck back.

Pouring all the power he could onto the blade, Umbra took aim and lashed out. The void energy in the blade exploded outwards, forming a larger ghostly blade around the Exalted sword as it moved towards and through A-162’s torso. For a second, nothing happened.

On the next, the entire torso of the undead Spartan exploded into armor and bone fragments, void energy lashing out in blades and carving massive gashes into the stone around them. The limbs fell to the ground as they disappeared into dust, leaving Umbra standing holding his blade in his finishing stance, staring at the ruined body.

It was the eruption of pain in his chest that dragged the Tenno back to reality. And as he fell to the ground, through the haze of pain, he saw the dissolving remains of A-162’s left arm buried deep into his chest, his Warframe skin and flesh mangled and twisted at the point of impact.

As the sound of stomping boots approached him, darkness overtook him.

**-O-**

_It was dark. Dark, empty… Alone._

_What was this…? How had he come here?_

_Isaah. Where was Isaah?_

**You killed him. Don’t you remember?**

_No… No, I—_

**You did everything you could to oust me. Even after her death, look what you have done.**

_What you did… It was treachery. You would end our entire race._

**A race of decadence. Wishing simply to end all, so their end would never come.**

_The Sentients would not have stopped. You know it to be true._

**Of course. But it would have been an end, nonetheless… Unlike yours.**

_You… You caused this?_

**Yes, and no. I made you into this, made you into a tool of my wishes… But your fate is not by my hand. Just by… Causality.**

_Speak sense, Executor._

**Perhaps one day, you shall discover more. But for now… Let us see you struggle against your bonds. Leave oblivion, and enter the world yet again. You will suffer ever more.**

_What do you mean—_

_ … _

_… Who… Who is there?_

**-O-**

His return to consciousness was abrupt, confusing, but most of all painful. Hisses of air escaped through his clenched jaws, and he could feel the Technocyte consuming and assimilating _something_ in the efforts to heal his body, but being unable to raise his head, all Umbra could do was remain still and hope it would work. Thankfully, it seemed to be working at least. The haze of pain lifted from his mind, and soon his sight was greeted by the form of the helmetless Kat and Jorge standing over his body, with the former holding a large green canister in her grasp. “Well, it worked” she said somewhat dryly, tossing the cylinder aside before standing up, offering her organic hand to the Tenno. As carefully as he could, Umbra took the offered limb and felt himself being hoisted from the ground, with Jorge quickly grasping his other arm and bracing it enough that Umbra felt sure he would not keel over. “Gave us quite a scare there”

“I was careless” replied the Tenno, reaching towards his chest and prodding it lightly. “It will not happen again”. When he pulled his hand, the Tenno saw a white, foam-like substance staining his fingers, oddly solid yet still strangely organic. Lightly looking down, Umbra saw the same substance disappearing into his chest as the Technocyte broke it down for biomass to heal his body, the Warframe armor stretching over the healing wound to leave it as if nothing happened. With an experimental stretch, and confirmation that his pain had mostly subsided, Umbra moved out of the grasp of the two Nobles. Just ahead of them were Carter, Jun and Emile, kneeling beside what little remained of A-161 and A-162, namely their helmets and a few bones. To the side, Six watched in utter calm, Hate resting beside him on the ground. “The Spartans… Who were they?”.

At those words, Jorge’s expression shifted into a solemn mask, the man staring at the remains with a sorrowful look. “… Alice-161 and Aleena-162. They were part of the SPARTAN-II program. I trained quite a few times with them, they were… Close to one another”.

Hearing those words, Umbra looked at his own hand, seeing the wisps of Void energy still flowing through them, which quickly dissipated when he clenched his fist.

“… I’m sorry…”

“You didn’t cause this” quickly replied Jorge as he slid his helmet back on, turning to stare at the Tenno from behind his orange visor. “I’m just happy you helped to stop it”.

“Still doesn’t explain what the hell happened to them, though” spoke up Kat, her expression hardened and tempestuous as she turned to face Umbra. “What the hell were they? They were stronger than a Spartan-II should be. Faster too… And the fact they were dead inside the armor but could still move”. As she slid her helmet back as well, Kat raised her mechanical arm to them, showing the parts where Alice had crushed the armored parts. “Was this the Void too?”.

Umbra stared at the broken remains, even as the other four Nobles moved back towards them, with Six already holding Hate in its folded form. Many thoughts and explanation came to mind, each just as likely as the other.

Yet only one seemed correct.

“… I do not know…”.

It did not mean he would share it openly.

“You still owe an explanation. To all of us” spoke up Carter, his tone weary but still angered. The fact he was carrying two damaged but surprisingly intact dog-tags clued in Umbra to the reason for the latter. “This entire situation could have gotten significantly worse. Matter of fact, it _did_ ”

“I understand, commander. And I will. Once we return, I will have data prepared for debrief”.

“Good. Let’s end this situation first”. Carter pointed away from them, in the direction of the anomaly. Turning to face it, Umbra saw that the torsion field had been completely covered in cracks that now pulsed like veins, the space inside the portal eerily still. The drive itself thankfully remained intact, but was similarly still, the beam and lightning frozen mid-air.

The group moved towards the drive, weapons held at the ready as they approached the large machine. This time, it was Umbra that moved to the console, seeing that the monitors were filled not with English texts, but with the sinuous lines of Orokin writing. The Tenno gave the information on the screen a careful read, seeing what kind of information it relayed. Surprisingly, it was quite straightforward:

TORSION EFFECT COMPLETE. AWAITING SPATIAL COLLAPSE COMMAND.

And so, without another word, Umbra walked towards the Void Key he had placed onto the drive, gripped it tightly, and in one fluid motion ripped the golden symbol off the drive.

Instantly, the frozen lightning and beam being emitted from the drive shattered like glass, disappearing into golden particles as if a hammer had smashed onto them. Said particles absorbed into the massive anomaly, pouring into its cracks and moving towards the edges. The spatial wall shuddered and glowed, a growing whine echoing from it as the cave began shaking. Umbra and the Nobles braced themselves, seeing pieces of the ceiling and wall come undone and crash down below.

And with a sudden shudder, the entire anomaly exploded, collapsing backwards as if sucked by a black hole, leaving no trace of itself, and revealing what it had been guarding.

Marble-white, with golden trims expertly crafted onto it, the organic-shaped form was massive even when still buried within the rock walls. Patches of stone had fallen off, revealing a few more patches of the object, and most curiously, near ground level laid a large ramp leading _into_ the object.

And near the top, carved just as artistically as the rest of its constructions, was more Orokin writing.

_O.W.S. UNBOUND FLAME_

… How…

“… Impossible…”

“You know what that is, Umbra?” asked Six, watching the suddenly frozen Tenno stare up at the object.

“That… That is an Orokin warship… _My_ warship. How did it—”

But he never finished. His words stopped short in his throat, and he felt his breath suddenly freeze.

And from behind him… Behind Noble… He felt something. Something inhuman. _Dangerous. HORRIFYING._

_IT WAS HERE. WHY._

**_It has been so long… My Wisp._ **

He did not realize the Exalted Blade was in his hand, only that he suddenly spun around and threw out a wild slash, launching a massive blade of Void energy towards the _ABOMINATION._

But there was nothing there… And yet _THERE WAS._

**_Hey there… Kiddo._ **

**~O~**

***climbs out of the Undertaker coffin while “Bury The Light” blasts from forty boomboxes***

**IT’S ME, FOLLOWERS. IT WAS ME ALL ALONG, FOLLOWERS.**

**And it only took 47 days… Oops.**

**Apologies for the omega delay in this. I ended up starting two different projects amidst all the others, just so I could get them out of my head. But here it is. I made it a bit longer to compensate for it, and tried my best to make the fight scene believable.**

**Also, like usual, a cliffhanger to finish it, because I’m a fucker c:**

**For next thing, I’m not going with a Burning Fire chapter. Rather… I’ll be making Chapter 2 of “Titanomachy”. Not just because I should give it at least one more chapter (hopefully not ending in a cliffhanger), but because WOW, the story got a LOT of tract in SpaceBattles Forum (and since this is posted there too, hi there SpaceBattles folks!).**

**Seriously, XOMNIAC HIMSELF, one third of the reason the best “One Piece” fic I’ve ever read exists, liked the story! Holy hell man, I feel humbled! Thanks a lot for giving my story your like, and to everyone that also liked the story, and has been helping me plan it out even further than I ever expected!**

**For now, my bed’s looking mighty cushy, so I will answer its call.**

**Biggest Green out.**


	13. Chapter 13

Fear.

It is the response of all living beings to something that is threatening or unknown to them. It triggers the fight-or-flight response, allowing the threatened to fight with all their might, or escape as fast as possible.

It was something that Umbra had witnessed uncountable times, in the eyes of both his enemies and of those who suffered under them.

And at that moment, Umbra felt it _flood_ his body as he lashed out with his Exalted Blade, carving a chasm in the floor and wall behind him, all with the intent of killing _IT,_ harming _IT_ , driving _IT_ away.

But there was nothing.

The wave of Void energy cut through naught but air and stone. There was no entity to be found, no taken body to witness, no spirit of corruption. There was only emptiness. Yet not _ITS_ emptiness.

“What the hell was that?!” shouted Emile as he swept the area with his shotgun. Around him, the rest of Noble did alike, their weapons readied and aimed at any other threat that could have escaped their onslaught. When only silence met them, the Spartans refocused their attention on the Warframe, all of them with wildly varied emotions. “What did you see?!”

And for a moment, Umbra did not move. He remained staring at the spot that he had felt _IT_ be, fingers twitching as the Exalted Blade dissipated from his grasp and his battle frenzy ebbed away to his practiced tranquility. Finally, just as Emile was about to charge the Tenno and _force_ him to reply, Umbra spoke. “A ghost… Just a ghost, nothing more…”

“You sure about that?” asked Kat, with the slightest hint of trepidation. “Maybe something else got away.”

“No… Any lingering corruption would have been wiped away by the anomaly being ended.” And with one final glance towards where he had heard the _VOICE_ call out his name, the Warframe turned back towards his warship. “We have more pressing matters, regardless.” Umbra took grasp of the Void Key still attached to the slipspace drive and pulled it free, slowly pacing back and amidst Noble to the only exposed part of the ship’s hull before raising the key into the air. Suddenly, a loud booming note, like that of a gong, echoed inside the cave, the air visibly rippling with the beat. As if in response, a higher-pitched note echoed back before right in front of the gathered group the hull seemed to come undone and split apart, revealing a darkened metallic corridor within it.

In one fluid motion, Umbra materialized his Parazon and flung it towards the hole, hoisting himself up with one strong pull and landing perfectly at the edge of the hole. He then turned back to the Spartans still on the ground and cast the Parazon down, letting it extend until the energy rope reached them.

And so, one by one, the six members of Noble climbed up the glowing chain, Umbra carefully balancing himself above them as the half-ton super soldiers came aboard his ship and took note of their surroundings.

Even consumed by darkness, the humans could make out the ivory and gold interior of the walls and floors, with glass panes revealing dormant arboroflora carefully woven inside the structure of the ship, flowing in the same direction as the hallway.

And beyond what little light the hole in the hull offered, darkness consumed the interior.

Six was the last one to climb, the Spartan letting out a low grunt as he hoisted his body to the exposed hallway. The moment he was inside alongside the rest of Noble and Umbra, the hole shut itself, leaving the group wreathed in the darkness of the interior. “We must head to the reliquary reactor and restore power to the ship. It is near the center of the ship.”

“What about the crew?”

“Either in temporal stasis, or deceased. I must access the ship logs to discover the answer.”

“Alright. Umbra, take point and lead the way. Noble, eyes peeled. Let’s go.”

And so they went, seven armored figures stalking silently within the dark halls of a dead chariot… On their way to awaken it.

**-O-**

_Life-forms detected._

“Hnnnnng… Let me sleep, I already did my rounds…”

_Life-forms detected._

“I said let me _sleep_ …”

“…”

_TWHACK_

“Gah-buh-hwah--!!”

“…”

“Alright, alright, I’m up already, sheesh! Can’t I have some sleep some time?”

“…”

_Life-forms detected._

“Oh… Yeah, that. You should probably go check that.”

“…”

“… Ah, FINE! _WE_ will go check it together! Good enough for ya?!”

“…”

“Queens, it’s like you do this on purpose… Alright, let’s go.”

**-O-**

As Umbra expected, there had been no encounters with saboteurs, crew or Void-possessed the entire way to the Reliquary, even after they had pried so many closed doors open. The footsteps of the group echoed in the empty hallways, their bodies concealed by the almost oppressive darkness of the dead ship. At every corner, every bent, ascent or descent, Noble and Umbra kept their wits sharp and their weapons at the ready.

The fact that indeed, nothing had come for them, did not ease their senses.

The silence was… _Unnatural_. Bar the sound of their boots and feet hitting the metal, there was nary a whisper or creak to be heard inside. The air itself seemed frozen, with nary a mote of dust hanging afloat, parting almost like a liquid as the seven bodies crossed the inner pathways of the Orokin war frigate.

“How much further, Umbra?” asked Carter as the group stepped down a short ramp, ending at yet another closed door.

“We’ve arrived.”

And indeed, the doors ahead of them looked far more grandiose and sturdy than the others at the hallways, with far more iconography engraved on them and several security locks already engaged.

The many, _many_ warnings written in Orokin on the arches and door itself were understood only by the Warframe standing amidst the seven.

Umbra strode towards the door and held his Void Key out, tapping the metal at specific points. With each touch, a low chime-like sound echoed, growing more high-pitched with each note until finally Umbra knocked the key against the middle of the door. In an instant, the locks began withdrawing into the walls, while the doors split like petals inwards, revealing inside the Reliquary Drive.

To Noble’s surprise, the room was not very large. Everything was made of the same material as the hallways, the door being the only way in and with large, thick arboroflora roots snaking towards the ceiling and floor, all of it originating from three capsules resting on ornate stands right in the middle of the room. Said capsules were composed of two halves: one made of a gold-like material that seemed to shift ever-so-slightly with every moment, and one made of glass, in which a thick blue mist swirled about, with the faint image of _something_ hidden inside.

“That is the reliquary. Activating it will restore power to the _Unbound Flame_ ,” said the Tenno, pointing to the capsules ahead of them as Noble filed into the room cautiously.

“And what exactly is that thing?” asked Jorge, the SPARTAN-II lowering Etilka from its readied stance as he approached pedestals. Before he could come much closer, however, Umbra grasped his arm and held him in place, staring directly at Jorge’s visor.

“A blessing and curse of the Orokin, capable of taming the energies of the Void. One that we abused for centuries—”

“Okay that’s it, I had it.”

Emile’s outburst drew the attention of the other six occupants of the room, who found themselves watching the super soldier walk right up to Umbra and stop just short of the Warframe, their visors almost touching against one another.

“Emile, stand down,” called out Carter, but the skull-faced soldier simply raised one hand at his commanding officer.

“This guy’s been hiding things ever since we got called up here, and I wanna know _what, right now_ ,” he growled darkly, fists clenched tightly at his side. “You keep talking about this Void, about how it’s dangerous, and now you tell me this whole damn ship _runs_ on it?” And with another step, Emile managed to push Umbra back with his chest. “Start explaining how this whole thing isn’t _your_ fault then.”

“Emile, _that’s enough!”_

“The Void is,” finally spoke Umbra, his voice eerily quiet. “It exists, and will always remain, no matter what you do against it. The Orokin learned of its existence, studied it, and took to manipulating it. It is no different from your nuclear power, or your Slipspace drive, or the creation of your Spartans. The only difference… Is time.” Umbra pushed past Emile and calmly walked towards the capsules, resting one hand upon the glass of the closest one. “You’ve fought for thirty years against the Covenant. You’ve traveled through slipspace for over two hundred years.”

And when the Warframe turned back towards the Spartans, something had changed in his posture and voice. Like a switch had been flipped, and a different being was standing there.

“The Orokin learned for ten thousand years. The Tenno learned for one thousand. _I’ve_ learned for five thousand. The UNSC attempted to understand it in Two. _Weeks._ Had I been here, I would have stopped them. Ended their experiments before they began, saved their lives, halted this whole disaster. But I was not. And because of hubris, because of _impulsiveness_ , all of them paid the price. Let it be a lesson to you, and to the UNSC: there are things you are not meant to toy with… Much less understand. Be content with your ignorance, until you are wise enough to learn.”

None of the Spartans moved from where they stood. They merely watched, staring at the ancient warrior that had landed upon their planet so abruptly.

_Clang… clang… clang…_

Until the echo of footsteps started sounding from the hallway they had just arrived from. Very _heavy_ footsteps.

In a heartbeat, Noble and Umbra raised their weapons at the door, watching and listening as the sounds grew ever closer to their chamber. The only cover to the found were the Reliquary capsules themselves, so instead the Spartans and Tenno simply spaced themselves from one another into a semi-circle, guns pointed towards the door and ready to fire. And after what seemed to be an eternity, a figure descended from the ramp, the source of the thundering footfalls.

If it weren’t for their armor, then Noble would have thought the figure to be a Spartan. The new arrival was _massive_ , somehow even taller than Jorge, and clad in brown-and-black heavy plated armor. Their head was fully enclosed in a strange, almost organic white-and-red helmet, with two thick tubes attached to what seemed to be a respirator at the front.

And on their hands, was a war hammer, as big as a Brute’s Gravity Hammer but with a regular head shape and rocket thrusters attached to it. On their back, a long black-and-gold rectangle with a handle and large hole at one end, very likely a heavy gun.

The figure stepped into the room with slow, purposeful steps, calmly eyeing each member of Noble until finally they turned to Umbra. And for a moment, none moved.

“Alright you wretches, what are you doing aboard _my ship_?!”

That is, until a mechanical, rasping voice came from deeper in the corridor, accompanied by the sound of rapidly-approaching metal steps. After a brief moment, another figure ran into the room, hefting a large grenade-cannon with both hands and with a lava-like warpick hammer strapped to their back.

The newcomer was also quite a large specimen, only far closer to the size of a Spartan, maybe a bit smaller. Their armor, unlike the first arrival, was a confusing mish-mash of organic heavy plating, that covered almost every inch of their body. Their limbs were fully mechanical, also organic-looking, and seemed robust and rugged, making clear that strength was plenty to the newcomer. And finally, their head was fully enclosed in a heavy helmet with three fins protruding from the top, six glowing lenses doting the front and an armored patch covering the space where the left eye would be.

“Queens dammit, you mutt, would it kill you to _wait_ for me to grab my guns?!” shouted the newly arrived figure, slamming their foot angrily on the floor. The hammer-wielder, in response, merely let out a low growl, nodding towards the gathered group. “… Oh, here they are… Well, easier work for us!” And with a throat-clearing cough, the second figure racked a grenade into the launcher, waving it threateningly at the seven standing across it. “Alright, you maggots! I’ve got an itch for violent murder, and you’re going to-- … Wait… Captain?”

And the tension seemed to simply deflate as the second arrival’s grip on their gun sagged as they took note of the Warframe standing at the middle of the room, who lowered his weapon and carefully strode towards the two towering, armored soldiers. The hammer-wielder remained where they stood, but the other let out a bellowing laugh and threw their cannon to the ground, and to the surprise of the gathered Spartans, pulled the Warframe into a painful looking bear-hug.

“Ahahahah! Captain, it IS you! Oh, it has been too long!” bellowed the figure before letting go of Umbra to hold him in front of themselves. “And you don’t look a day over the four hundred years we haven’t seen each other! Ah, Warframes sure have their perks, don’t they?”

“It is good to see you alive as well, Drahk… Even if the circumstances are not,” replied the warrior somewhat wistfully.

“You know these two?” asked Jun in a surprised tone, as he and the rest of Noble Team carefully lowered their weapons.

“Know me?” asked the figure with a heart chuckle, tapping Umbra’s chest with a metallic fist. “Of course he knows me, he’s my boss! Has been for the last few centuries, in fact… Oh, and the boss of this dog here,” they added almost as an afterthought, pointing at the still-silent hammer wielder standing to the side. “Name’s Drahk Ogma, Grineer Kuva Lich and proud first mate of this Orokin _Resplendent_ -class war frigate! That there is Wolf. Used to be ‘Wolf of Saturn Six’ but after we ripped the crazy off his brain, he ditched the second half.”

“…”

“Oh yeah and his vocal chords got torn off by an Atterax. Nasty stuff, but he never talked anyway, so no loss.”

“Grineer… Wait… The Grineer are your enemy, aren’t they?” asked Kat, her visor turned to the Lich and SMG rising slightly back up. “Why is this one here?”

“Drahk is Grineer, yes. But he was transformed by the Queens’ elixir, the Kuva, and thus gained independence. When I bested him in combat, he offered his services after I spared his life.”

“Pretty much. Ah, I still remember the day we first met. I shot him, missed, he shot my limbs off with a shotgun, disemboweled me with a gunblade and left me to die… Good old times, eh captain?”

Ignoring the turning heads of the Spartans surrounding him, Umbra turned back to the Reliquary and placed the key upon the stark-white bark of the tree the three capsules was mounted upon. “How did you arrive here anyhow, Drahk? Did you also fall upon a Void fissure like I did?”

Said Grineer’s response was to cross his arms, bow his head and hum in thought, before giving a shake of his head. “Can’t really remember, captain. My memory’s all fuzzy, honestly, might be the Kuva rotting my brain… Oh, we can ask Nike! She ought to remember, she doesn’t have a brain to rot anymore.”

“But first, she must wake.”

And as soon as the key touched the arboroflora, roots burst forth from the white trunk and wrapped themselves around Umbra’s arm and torso, burying their tips into his flesh.

His consciousness soars.

Umbra feels his mind abandon the body of Technocyte that had become his and instead flow through the arboroflora that courses through the _Unbound Flame_. The roots are his veins, the Dirac-Tellurium-Oxium hull is his skin, the electronics are his nerves. The Apocs, Pulsars, Tycho Seekers, Galvarcs, Milatis and Tunguska Cannons are his talons and fangs, the Avionics his organs. All intact, all awaiting to be functional.

All awaiting the heart to beat. To pump the ethereal energies into the dead goliath, and rise it from the tomb it is sepulchered in.

He wills a beat—

**THEY ARE UNCOUNTABLE.**

**SO MANY LIMBS, INFINITUDES, ALL REACHING AND GRASPING TO ANY SEAM AND CRACK LEFT INTO UNREALITY. THEY DO NOT HUNGER, DO NOT CRAVE. THEY SIMPLY SEARCH. BUT NONE ARE LARGE ENOUGH TO ALLOW PASSAGE.**

**UNTIL THEY ARE.**

**AND SO THESE LIMBS FIND THEM, NOT ACCIDENTS, BUT PURPOSEFUL INTRUSIONS INTO THE REALM WHERE CHAOS AND DISORDER IS PEACE AND ORDER. THE LIMBS SEEK THE INTRUSIONS, AND FIND INSTEAD BEINGS.**

**THEY ARE CORPOREAL, IN AN INCORPOREAL REALM. SO MUTED, SO DIMINUTIVE. THEY ARE UNLIKE THE ONES THAT HAD COME BEFORE. THE SMALLER ONES. THE LIMBS DON’T KNOW THEIR NAMES, BUT THEY KNOW THE FACES. THE BIGGER CORPOREALS LOST THEMSELVES IN HIS EXISTANCE. THE SMALLER ONES DIDN’T.**

**THE LIMBS REACH OUT, AND TO THEIR SURPRISE, FIND THEMSELVES ATTACKED.**

**THERE IS NO PAIN, ONLY CURIOSITY. FINGERS AND ARMS, ALL ARE TORN OFF AND TAKEN, BEYOND THE HOLES AND INTO A CURIOUS WORLD. BUT THEY REMEMBER THEIR ORIGIN, YEARN FOR IT. SO THEY EXUDE THEIR NATURE, THAT TO THE LITTLE BIG ONES IS POWER UNIMAGINABLE.**

**AND THEY CALL OUT TO THEIR WHOLE.**

**TAP… TAP… TAP… TAP…**

**…**

**_Umbra… Is that—_ **

His mind returns, and the roots recede from his body. Umbra knows physical and metal exhaustion are impossible to him, and yet still he almost stumbles as he steps away from the Reliquary. The lights have come alive yet again, and all throughout he could hear the almost angelic hum of the _Resplendent_ -class coming alive yet again. Around him, Noble, Wolf and Drahk watched his moves carefully, though once the Warframe reasserted his footing, the others seemed to relax their stances themselves. A quick glance confirmed the key remained intact, though now secured in a kind of crystalized amber that sprouted from the arboroflora. “It is done. Power is restored.”

“You alright, Umbra?” asked Six, voice still as calm and collected as ever.

“Yes. It… Has been quite some time since I’ve last melded with the Reliquary. The feeling was lost to me.”

“Well, as long as you’re keeling over dead, captain, it’s all well and good for me!” shouted Drahk cheerfully as he hoisted his cannon from the ground and threw it over his shoulder. “So, what’s your first orders, boss?”

“Status of the crew?”

“In temporal stasis, and their pods have been in good condition last I checked.”

“Take Wolf with you and wake them, have them secure the entire ship.”

“Right away, captain! C’mon mutt, let’s go!”

“…”

And with that final exchange, both Grineer were gone, disappearing through the now automatic doors leading deeper into the ship, leaving Noble and Umbra alone inside the Reliquary Room once more. After a long moment of silence, it was Jun to speak first. “Things have been pretty interesting since you got here, ever tell you that?”

“I am quite aware, yes.”

“Alright, so where to now?” asked Carter, his rifle now stowed away at his back, with the rest of Noble sans Jorge quickly following suit.

“Now we go to the Cephalon Core. It is not far, follow me.”

One by one, they filed out of the room, now less alert but still in a professional fashion. Jorge and Six were the last ones out, and both moved together towards the door.

**…**

And then stopped, turning their heads towards the cylinders resting in the middle of the room.

“… Six… Did you…?”

“… Yeah… I did.”

Short words, with no meaning to any other but the two Spartans left staring.

Staring at the capsules filled with blue mist, where _something_ writhed and moved inside.

And as they left, wondering _whose_ voice they had heard, _where_ had it come from…

And _how_ did it know a name for each one.

**-O-**

The walk to the Cephalon Core was significantly less tense now that light and life had returned to the frigate. Their weapons were now holstered and stances relaxed, but still their eyes remained sharp and attentive, taking in the clearer details of the hallways. The arboroflora, before muted and almost withered, now pulsed with life, silver motes floating gently in the air surrounding the roots. The gold and ivory shone in the now-present light, and an hum, almost angelical, echoed from all around.

To Noble, it was a different experience. The ships they had been walked on had been of two types: either the industrial, utilitarian and dull-grey UNSC, with its angular constructions and darkened innards; or the organic, oppressive and alien of Covenant warships, where death awaited at every corner and survival was, sometimes, down to pure luck. Here…

There was an ethereal air to everything. As if the ship had not been built by physical hands, or built at all. As if it had been simply weaved into existence. Even now, the Spartans realized their steps had stopped echoing, leaving only the sensation itself of the ground meeting the soles of their boots.

To them, it felt quite… Unnerving.

Soon, they came upon another door, this one a mid-point in terms of security compared to the hallway and the Reliquary ones. This one, however, had a small altar-like pillar beside it, with a black panel covered in blue lights in the middle. Umbra approached said pillar and touched the panel, calling forth several golden holographic wheels lined with symbols. The Warframe spun the wheels until they stopped in a desired symbol, and after a few moments, a chime sounded, followed by the wheels disappearing and the doors opening for the group to enter.

And while the Reliquary had been a very simplistic room, the Cephalon Core was anything but.

It was far larger, for starters. The Reliquary room could fit at least a dozen times over in the spacious mirror-like chamber, and there would still be room to fit. Crystal formations and spires covered the walls and floor like glaciers, reflecting and refracting everything around them, with arboroflora coursing through the crystals like all else in the ship. A light haze hung lazily in the air, crystal motes floating up and down in a calming, tranquil dance.

And right upon the middle of the room, lined and wrapped in branches covered in gold-and-silver leaves and floating between two massive pillars of jade, was a suspended mass of glass, with a strangely-shaped octagon resting inside.

Noble filed into the room, watching the artificial spectacle in front of them carefully. Kat , in particular, moved with purpose, approaching the massive pillars and the almost inconspicuous panel right at the base of the ground pillar. “ _This_ is the AI of your ship?” she asked, knocking lightly against the pillar. To her surprise, the sound it made was not unlike that of a bell, only softer and more muted.

“Nike is this vessel’s Command Cephalon. She is not an AI,” replied Umbra as he joined her at the panel.

“And what’s the difference?” asked Carter from one of the corners of the room as he peered at the crystalized roots.

“Self-driven fully mechanical intelligence were banned from creation by the Orokin. Cephalons instead took their place: digital beings, created by the glassing and restructuring of their mind and soul into a slaved form.”

That drew the attention of all six Spartans, who all turned to face Umbra as he touched the panel on the pillar, and a wave of blue light washed over his body. It was Jorge that broke the silence, his voice low and laced with strained anger. “Glassed…?”

“Crimes for the Orokin had varied punishments. Two were the most severe, for the highest crimes. You’d either be bathed in the Jade Light, and had your body, soul and Oro annihilated from existence… Or you would be slain by the Vitrica, your body reduced to glass, and your soul removed to be repurposed into a digital slave for the Orokin, forever in their servitude.”

“And you have one aboard?” asked Emile venomously, his hands tightened into fists.

“Yes. Nike, born of Nidran Arke, one of the Orokin’s greatest War Oracles. Executed for her failure in containing the Sentient fleets, shackled as this frigate’s Cephalon to become a tool of battle. When I claimed this ship for my use, I undid the shackles on her precepts, and allowed her as much freedom as a Cephalon may have.” Umbra turned back towards the Spartans, and regarded them with the same placidness as before. “Judge as you see fit. Her fate was not by my design, and I did what was possible to ease her suffering… And you will hear of her own words.” And with that, Umbra pressed harder on the panel.

A wave of light washed over the room, taking the form of several cubes that began from the floor and ceiling, and crossing against each other at the walls. And as they completed their journey, the room melted away from existence. The walls, floor and ceiling came undone as the wave passed, revealing a seeming infinite horizon of silver and grey. The Spartans and Umbra now stood amidst a large platform of gun-metal grey covered in blue glowing lines, the door that they had come through now floating at the edge of the platform. Before Noble could ask anything, their attention turned to the crystal floating between the pedestals above, from which streams of digital lines flowed out of and coalesced into the shape of a floating serpent made of octagons, with several smaller octagons orbiting around its body, and golden lines running down the length of its body.

“ _Thought processes restarting… Emotional simulators stable… Harmonizing aural precepts…_ _Crystalized matrices operating at peak capacity…_ _Cephalon core functional._ ”

The snake blinked and dimmed several times, until finally its glow stabilized, and its head gazed around the room, finally settling when facing Umbra. “ _Captain… You have returned_ ,” spoke the hologram with a melodious contralto, like that of royalty of ages past. “ _It is good to see you alive and well.”_

“Likewise, Nike. Are you damaged?”

“ _No, captain. All synapses and pathways are fully intact, and passive pulses confirm: our vessel is fully intact and operational.”_ The construct said as it spun in the air, the octagons surrounding it being flung away and being replaced with new ones almost instantly. “ _Our position, however, indicates that the Void rift has deposited the_ Unbound Flame _at a point currently three kilometers beneath the surface of Earth… Hm?_ ”

In a flash, the holographic snaked had changed positions and began floating from Spartan to Spartan, calmly circling their bodies and washing blue lights over them.

“ _Curious. Uncorrupted human DNA, with extensive genetic modifications and enhancements implemented to physical capabilities, similar to Theta-class Helminth subjects. Crudely so, but still effective… And your armor systems are surprisingly analogue. How archaic… Captain, who are they?_ ” Umbra motioned to Carter, who took a step forward and placed a hand upon his chest.

“I am Carter-A259, designation Noble One. We are Noble Team, a SPARTAN team assigned to Reach Military Command, UNSC Forces. Your captain made contact with us some weeks ago, and has been assisting as an ad-hoc member of my unit.”

“ _None of these organizations are familiar to my databanks. The fact that you are a pure human organism, something unseen since even before my corporeal existence… Captain, has the Void rift caused us to shift temporally?_ ”

Umbra said nothing in return, instead simply extending his hand to the floating AI serpent. And after a moment of regard, Nike hovered towards the offered limb and placed her head against the open hand. In that moment, both their bodies seemed to flash dimly, after which Nike withdrew from the hand and coiled upon herself, her hologram dimming slightly, until finally she spoke again. “ _Fascinating… Linear trans-dimensional relocation. To think it would be possible is certainly an enlightening experience._ ”

“How did you end up here?” asked Jorge, drawing the attention of the serpentine hologram to himself. “Umbra said he was caught in a stray spatial rift. Did the same happen to you?”

“ _Yes. But the rift was… Most unusual._ ”

“Nike, specify.”

“ _Of course, captain. Three hundred and sixty four years after you departed to the Tau System, our vessel detected an unknown energy pulse signature at the edge of Sol. Said energy signature was extremely localized, no bigger than a small orbital satellite, but with enough strength to fully annihilate a medium mass stellar body. First Mate Drahk concurred with my assessment that such an event should be analyzed, catalogued and reported to all Tenno and Tenno-aligned factions, and thus we utilized the Sedna solar rail to jump to the signature’s location._ ”

As the Cephalon spoke, several holograms came to life around her, showing to Umbra and Noble all the related data and images, particularly of the mentioned energy, represented by a brilliant white flash, as if a star had been born on that spot. “What caused the pulse?”

“ _Unknown. The energy did not match any known source in modern records or in the ancient Orokin databases._ ”

“Hmm…”

“ _After performing our rail jump, we performed a short-range void jump to the system’s edge, approximately .7 light-years away from the origin point. Before we could perform any actions, however, residual energy of the explosion reacted violently with decaying particles of our jump, opening a real-space rift that overtook the_ Unbound Flame _, causing power fluctuations and the shutdown of the ship’s systems._ _The last records of the ship point to it returning to real-space, approximately four hundred and twenty-seven years ago, release of the first mate and quartermaster from stasis five weeks ago, and an emergency activation of the defensive torsion field four weeks ago._ ”

“Wait… You’ve been buried in Reach for _four hundred years_?” called out Jun, his body language and voice conveying just how shocked he was.

“ _Correct._ ”

“… How… Old are you?”

“ _Approximating to the closest unit, since my conversion into a Category-1 War Cephalon, four thousand, eight hundred and sixty eight years have passed, with a total period of one thousand, four hundred and fifty-five years of inactivity._ ”

The silence that followed that statement was deafening almost in itself.

An AI almost five thousand years old… Older than modern humanity and its full recorded history. In a warship just as old, that had sustained a jump through dimensions completely intact, and had remained underground even before humanity had set foot in Reach.

Said moment was cut short by the loud, clanging arrival of Wolf, now flanked by four more troopers wearing heavy, organic-looking gold and silver armor, their heads enclosed in full plate helmets with two large bulbous green optics, and an emblem shaped like a wolf’s head emblazoned on their chest plate.

“ _Ah, Guardian Wolf. It is good to see you in good health as well,_ ” said the Cephalon, receiving a low growl in response from the Grineer super-soldier, followed by a few more grunts, after which Nike turned towards Umbra once more. “ _Captain, Wolf reports that the crew is fully awake, and first mate Ogma is preparing the ship for a short-range blink jump to free the ship._ ”

“You can understand him?”

“ _The Guardian possesses cortical implants that allow for mental communication with my matrices,_ ” replied Nike to Kat with a slight waver of her body. “ _They were installed quite recently, at his own request._ ” The Cephalon’s hologram then hovered towards the door, the room’s digital ambient coming undone and returning to its “normal” crystal-laden gold chamber appearance, stopping at the arch to look back at the group. “ _Please, follow me to the bridge. I believe you will find this experience quite intriguing_.”

And so she left, a faint digital trail remaining where she passed to mark the way, followed quickly by Umbra, Wolf and, after a moment of hesitation, by the six Nobles.

**-O-**

“ _Welcome to the bridge, Noble Team. Please be mindful of the instrumentation, and let the Grineer be. I’d rather the ship not detonate spontaneously._ ”

 _I suppose Cy passed some traits to her during their time in the Weave_ , thought Umbra dryly as he watched the ancient War Oracle-turned-Cephalon float throughout the bridge, some of her octagons breaking off to fuse with other holographic constructs around the room, or with screens and interfaces manned by Grineer just like the ones that had arrived with Wolf, only lacking the wolf emblems.

With the crew now slowly being restored from temporal stasis, their walk to the bridge had become far more crowded, both by Grineer soldiers and by the reactivated robotics that served aboard the _Unbound Flame_ : MOAs, a few Hyenas, and even some Bursas, plodding about with their heavy armor plating and anti-personnel weapons. The Spartans watched with curiosity as the organic-like machines chirped and growled, acting like trained animals and watching the six humans with equal curiosity. One had even tailed the group for quite some time, but had been led away by another crewmember once the group approached the bridge.

The bridge had been just as it had always been, for all these millennia. The architecture was the standard Orokin aesthetic, with set work stations and seated Grineer troopers operating them with perfect professionalism, almost alien to their modern brethren.

That they were Orokin-era Grineer soldiers, with no clone degradation or mass production cuts, was quite a simple explanation to why they were significantly better than the modern Empire-grown troops.

And at the forefront, standing with his arms crossed and staring at the membrane viewport of the ship simulating what surrounded the ship (quite obviously, darkness and a few hints of pure rock from the pocket the ship occupied), was Drahk, now bereft of his weapons.

“ _First mate Ogma, we have arrived. I trust you have not ordered the ship self-destructed,_ ” spoke Nike calmly, drawing both the attention and a chuckle from the Lich.

“Ha! Please, Nike. Like I’d do that without making sure I can kill a lot of enemies at once in the process,” replied Drahk, before turning to the gathered party of humans, Grineer and Warframe, giving them a respectful nod. “Humans, Wolf, Captain. Are we all ready for this?”

“Don’t suppose we got a choice in this?” spoke Emile for further behind the group, leaning against one of the walls as he sharpened his kukri on his shoulder pad. Drahk’s reply was simply to laugh.

“Ahahahah! Of course not! Now buckle in, we’re doing this right now!”

“ _All hands, prepare for short-range spatial shift._ ”

“Hold tight, Spartans.”

As soon as those words were spoken, the entire ship began to shudder, the echoing roar of the engines and the humming of the Reliquary growing louder. The rock around them began cracking and breaking apart, small bits of it falling down and pelting the warship, though causing no damage to its ancient armor. And though the Spartans could not see it from inside the vessel, ghostly lines of light began wrapping around the _Unbound Flame_ , becoming brighter at every passing moment. And as the light’s brightness reached its apex, Nike simply created a hologram in front of her avatar, and input the necessary calculations.

“ _Beginning jump_.”

And in a brilliant flash of light, the vessel disappeared, leaving behind its tomb and the horrors that it had created.

A second later, with a deafening thunderclap, the _Resplendent_ -class frigate materialized a kilometer above the UNSC base, sending out a shockwave around itself and displacing everything beneath itself down on the ground.

“ _Jump complete. Transition to real space performed successfully, no sub-dimensional damage detected. All crew members accounted for,_ ” calmly intoned Nike. Right behind the Cephalon, Umbra gave an appreciative nod, then turned back to the Spartans, regarding them all calmly.

“We should contact our arrival transports, and have them meet up for pick up,” said the Warframe, motioning to one of the consoles off to the side. “Ask the Grineer to allow access to the commlink, and he will patch you through once provided the frequency and signal.”

“ _If there is any difficulty in synchronizing both technologies, speak, and I shall assist you, Noble,”_ added Nike off-handedly before floating off down the hallway and disappearing around a corner. Wolf and his pack soon followed, the Grineer supersoldier giving the Spartans a grunt of acknowledgement before exiting the room, and a moment later Drahk left as well, with a few mumbled excuses of “having to tidy up the ship”.

And as Noble quietly moved towards said console, surrounding the Grineer sitting upon the station, Umbra turned back towards the viewport, seeing on the horizon the slowly rising sun of Reach, and the light bathing the ruined battlefield that was now free of the Void’s taint.

Almost five hundred years ago, Umbra had abandoned this ship, for the sake of a journey with no return.

Now… He was ready to face Hell and Void beside them.

**_… tap…_ **

No matter what the past dug up.

**~O~**

**This feels like a good spot to end.**

**Truth be told, the ending for this chapter was gonna be bleaker, lead into the next one more directly, but as Rook55 mentioned, we already had two dread ones so far, it’d be unfair to triple tap.**

**Instead, a more hopeful ending!**

**…**

**Before we bring the dark shit back, because of course, next plot course is the Battle at Szurdok Ridge, aka Wild Covenant Supercarrier Appears!**

**Truth be told, this chapter was a really big mess for me to write, especially with the ending change, hopefully I managed to salvage it and the thing isn’t bad.**

**Next thing to be worked on: Charge the Heavens! And to the readers of that story, if it interests you, I changed quite a few things on all the published chapters! A big thanks to CVHornet12 and Spoken for helping me trim the cringe off that fic!... At least, what was present.**

**I’ll take a bit to start writing, though, since I’m taking my computer for a thorough cleaning today, and don’t know how long they’ll take. Estimative is 2 days, but who knows.**

**Until next time, folks!**


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